BV 



# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # 

t - — BV4^ (o i 

! <&Hf '3J<^ ! 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. < 



4 f " ; v\ 



THE 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION 



IN PREACHING AND TEACHING: 



3£» 



JOHN BOWLING, D. D., 

Pastor of the Sere an Baptist Church, New-York. 



u You have no Zi&f.s in your sermons. Christ taught that the king- 
dom of Heaven was like to leaven hid in meal — like to a grain of 
mustard, &c. You tell us what things are, but never what they are 
like." — Rev. Robert Hall to a brother minister. 

"I have used similitudes." — Sacred Scriptures. 



NEW-YORK: 

L. COLBY AND COMPANY, 
122 Nassau Street. 

1848. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, 
by . 

L. COLBY & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 
States, for the Southern District of New-York. 



Stereotyped by C. DAVISON & CO , 
No. 33 Gold street, N. Y. 



Printed by PUDNEY & RUSSELL, 
No. 79 John street, N. Y. 



4 



PREFACE 



The substance of the following brief trea- 
tise, was delivered in the form of an address 
before a literary society, consisting of candid- 
ates for the gospel ministry, at the anniversary 
of the New-Hampton Theological Institution, 
for the year 1847 ; and subsequently repeated, 
with such modifications as the circumstances 
and occasion required, to the congregation under 
the pastoral care of the author. 

In complying with the numerous requests 
that have been made to him for its publica- 
tion, the author has been influenced by the 
opinion expressed by many, that the subject, 
though comparatively novel, is one of vast im- 
portance, not only to the efficiency and useful- 



IV 



PREFACE. 



ness of the Christian minister, but more espe- 
cially to the Sabbath School teacher, and the 
Christian parent, who would succeed in adapt- 
ing the momentous truths of the Gospel to the 
understandings of their youthful charge. It is 
hoped also that the interesting illustrations of 
truth, which have been selected as examples 
of the principles laid down, will render the 
work not devoid of interest to readers, who 
belong to neither of these classes. 

Those who listened to the delivery of the 
discourse in its original form will find some 
few additional paragraphs, added, in most in- 
stances, for the purpose of adapting the work 
to the faithful and pious teacher as well as to 
the minister of the gospel. Such as it is, it 
is commended to the blessing of God, and to 
the careful attention of the youthful ministry 
and the Sabbath School teachers of our land, 
by their affectionate fellow-laborer and servant, 
for Christ's sake, 

The Author. 

New-York, September 20th, 1847. 



PULPIT ILLUSTRATION. 



True eloquence was denned by one of the 
Grecian school of oratory,* as " the power 
of inventing whatever is persuasive in dis- 
course and by another,f as " the power of 
persuading." Yet both these definitions are 
defective ; and although Cicero seems to copy 
and indorse the definition of the Grecian ora- 
tors, when he says, " eloquence is speaking 
in a manner proper to persuade ?' yet this 
great master of the Latin school of eloquence 
gives a far more comprehensive and truthful 
description, when, following the promptings 



* Isocrates. t Aristotle. 

1* 



6 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



of his own acute and discriminating intel- 
lect, he describes the " perfect orator," as 
one, " who, in speaking, instructs, delights, 
and moves the minds of his hearers." — " Op- 
timus est enim orator, qui dicendo animos 
audientium, et docet, et delectat, et per- 
movet."* The object of eloquence is not 
solely to persuade, but also to instruct and 
to convince. And he who would secure an 
audience to be instructed, convinced, and 
persuaded, must, where attendance is volun- 
tary, be possessed, in some good degree, of 
the power, also, to delight, and, consequently, 
to attract. 

While we approve the good sense of the 
great Roman orator, in making the power 
of delighting one of the qualifications of 

* M. Tiillii Ciceronis, De Optimo Genere Orato- 
rum, § 3. Tauchnitz's Edition of Cicero, Vol. II., 
p. 485. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 



7 



his " perfect orator," his definition still ap- 
pears to us to be imperfect. To us it seems 
manifest that, that orator cannot be a master 
of the art of eloquence who does not pos- 
sess, in an eminent degree, the power of 
convincing by argument, in addition to the 
power of moving or persuading, by the force 
of entreaty or appeal. Were we called up- 
on, therefore, to give a popular, and some- 
what amplified definition of eloquence, we 
would say — It is the art of speaking in such 
a way, as is best adapted to attract, to in- 
struct, to convince, and to persuade. — Voice, 
manner, action, and style, must be culti- 
vated in order to attract ; the mines of 
truth must be explored, and their rich treas- 
ures must be appropriated, in order to in- 
struct ; the rationale of truth, and the art 
of reasoning, must be mastered, in order 
to convince ; and the wondrous nature of 
the human mind, the diversified motives of 
human action, and the hidden springs of 



8 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



human emotion must be studied, and plied 
with the force of entreaty and appeal, in 
order to persuade. In briefer phrase, it is 
the power of pleasing which attracts ; it is 
the materiel of truth which instructs ; it is 
the force of argument which convinces ; 
and it is the power of appeal which per- 
suades ; — while the faculty of perceiving 
and applying analogies, or, in other words, 
the power of illustration, where it is pos- 
sessed, in a high degree, pervades every 
department of .the orator's art, and contri- 
butes attractiveness and beauty, and force, 
and efficiency to the whole. 

There is, perhaps, no single qualifica- 
tion of the orator so well-adapted to at- 
tract, to interest, and to instruct an audi- 
ence, as a happy faculty of illustration ; and 
here, unquestionably, is to be found the 
reason, why many a man of limited lite- 
rary attainments, and entirely ignorant of 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 9 



the sciences of the schools, yet eminently 
endowed with the faculty of perceiving an- 
alogies, with industry enough, by observa- 
tion and reading, to supply himself with 
the materiel of analogies, and strong com- 
mon sense in their application, has wielded 
an influence over the popular mind, and 
achieved an amount of solid good, far be- 
yond the accomplished scholar and learned 
divine who may have passed half a life- 
time in the halls of learning ; but with all 
his acquisitions, has failed to cultivate the 
power of illustration. 

A conviction, which has long prevailed 
in my own mind, that in the neglect of 
this faculty of illustration is to be found 
the reason why many of the graduates of 
our higher institutions of learning and the- 
ology disappoint the expectations that were 
formed of them in the earlier part of their 
career, and enter upon the preacher's of- 



10 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



fice, only by the soporific influence of ab- 
stract dryness and prosy dullness — to con- 
vert the house of God into a " sacred 
dormitory" — is the only apology I shall 
offer for selecting as the theme of the 
present discourse, 

THE POWER OF ILLUSTRATION CONSIDERED 
AS AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 

"If you can't keep awake without," 
said a preacher to his congregation, "when 
you feel drowsy, why don't you take a 
pinch of snuff V — "I think," was the 
shrewd, but good-natured reply of one of 
his hearers, at the close of the service, — 
" I think the snuff should be put into the 
sermons." A hint which is well worthy of 
the attention of those would-be intellectual 
preachers, who affect to undervalue or to 
despise, not only the power of illustration, 
but all those innocent arts of pleasing, 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 11 



both in matter and manner, which may be 
employed in the delivery of truth in per- 
fect consistency with fidelity thereto. It is 
altogether a mistake to suppose that a dis- 
course from the pulpit must be acceptable 
to God, just in proportion as it is distaste- 
ful to the people. Let us be understood. 
We mean by the arts of pleasing, not trea- 
son to truth. The preacher must declare 
" the whole counsel of God," " whether 
men will hear or forbear ;" and that preacher 
who, in order to render his discourse more 
palatable to the corrupt and unrenewed 
heart, or who, for the sake of courting 
the popular favor, would withhold or dilute 
an unwelcome truth, because it is unwel- 
come, is a traitor to the cause of Christ, 
an Esau, who would sell his birthright for 
a mess of pottage, a Judas, who would 
betray his Master for thirty pieces of sil- 
ver. It is not this treason to truth which 
we mean, by the power of pleasing. 



12 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



We mean those attractions which con- 
sist in the proper cultivation of voice, and 
manner, and action, and style, and above 
all, in fertility of illustration. The preach- 
er who would benefit a congregation, 
must have a congregation to benefit ; and 
he who deems it beneath him to employ 
these justifiable means of rendering his 
ministrations acceptable and pleasing to his 
audience, will soon have no audience to 
please. It will not be long before he en- 
joys the satisfaction of listening to the 
echo of his own voice in a deserted house, 
and of preaching his dull and pointless 
abstractions to empty pews. 

The great advantages resulting from the 
use of striking and vivid illustrations, are, 
that they serve (1.) to attract and secure at- 
tention ; (2.) to afford scope for copiousness and 
variety, in the exhibition of truths which 
have long been familiar ; (3.) to impress the 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 13 



memory by their point and force ; and (4.) to 
render complex and difficult subjects easy 
and plain. 

In the present age of the world, ori- 
ginality in the enunciation of absolute 
truths, and especially those truths which 
have divine revelation for their basis, and 
which alone, are the themes peculiarly ap- 
propriate to the pulpit, — is hardly to be 
expected. If originality is now to be 
found anywhere, it is, not in the truths 
themselves, but in the almost infinitely di- 
versified modes, that may be adopted by 
different men, of illustrating those truths. 
The sources of analogical facts, as we 
shall presently endeavor to show, are so nu- 
merous and so fertile, that every preacher 
may draw from those sources, without fear 
of exhausting the supply ; thus, by the co- 
piousness and variety imparted to his dis- 
courses, investing with, at least, an air of 
originality, the most trite and familiar themes. 
2 



14 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



And who does not know, from his own 
j experience, that a truth will remain, long 
after the lips of the preacher or teacher who 
i uttered it are cold in death ; fastened in 
the memory, " like a nail in a sure place," 
when it is clinched by a pointed and stri- 
king illustration. Nearly thirty years ago, 
I remember going to hear that remark- 
able old man, the Rev. Rowland Hill, 
preach a sermon in the city of London, 
on behalf of a Bible Society. The text, 
the subject, and the plan of the discourse, 
have long since faded from my memory, 
(for I was but a boy then,) but there was 
one illustration employed, which 1 have al- 
ways remembered, and which, it appears 
to me, I should never forget, if I should 
live to the age of Methuselah ; and al- 
though the comparison was a little below 
the standard of taste and refinement which 
I would commend to the preachers of the 
present day, I will mention it, in proof of 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 15 



my remark. Mr. Hill had been alluding 
to the excuses of the Papists for keeping 
the Bible, as much as possible, from the 
people, because there were some things in 
it " hard to be understood." " And what 
would you think," said the good old man, 
as he bent forward, leaning one elbow on 
the pulpit, and putting on his look of pe- 
culiar archness, — "what would you think 
of a father, whose little boy should come 
to him hungry, and say, ' Father, I want 
some meat,' and he should reply, though 
he had a good joint of meat in the cupboard, 
'No, my son, I wont give you any meat, 
because you can't eat all the bone' " — 
The illustration I quote, not as a model 
of beauty, but for its pith, point, and ad- 
hesiveness^ for I know not how the idea 
in the mind of the speaker could have been 
more forcibly communicated. 

But I mentioned as another advantage 



16 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



of appropriate illustrations, their power to 
render easy and plain, subjects the most 
complex and difficult. Suppose, for in- 
stance, you are preaching on the important 
doctrine of justification. You have stated 
that justification is by, or through the right- 
eousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, and 
yet, the Apostle Paul asserts in one place, 
that believers are " justified by faith 
and in another, that they are £t justified 
"by grace," — "being justified freely by 
his grace, through the redemption that is 
in Christ Jesus. "f The inquiry, perhaps, 
arises in the minds of your hearers, — "If 
we are justified by the righteousness 01 
God our Saviour, how can we be justified 
by faith ? and if we are justified by faith, 
how can it be " by grace V s You wish to 
explain, and to reconcile these apparently 
different statements. In order to do this, 



* Romans, v. 1 



t Romans, iii. 24. 



AN ELEMENT OE PULPIT SUCCESS. 17 



you employ an illustration. Suppose the 
following: "'You are travelling on a steam- 
boat—the cry is heard, 'a man overboard!' 
The engine is immediately stopped ; the 
interest and compassion of the passengers 
and the crew are intensely excited ; a rope 
is thrown to the struggling man ; he reaches 
forth his hand, seizes the rope, and is 
drawn on board in safety. Nov/, that man 
may be said to have been saved by the 
rope, or saved by the kindness of the pas- \ 
sengers and the creiv, or saved by laying | 
hold of the rope. The rope is the means, 
or, (to use for once a scholastic term,) 
the formal cause of his deliverance, the 
kindness of those on board is the source, \ 
and his hand laying hold of the rope is 
the instrumental cause thereof. Thus is I 
it," — you may add, after having, by your 
illustration, prepared the minds of your 
audience to receive the explanation, — that 
we are justified by the righteousness of 
2* 



18 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



God our Saviour, the formal cause of our 
justification ; or " freely, by grace," the 
source whence this blessing springs ; or 
" by faith," the instrumental cause of justi- 
fication, the hand that reaches forth and 
receives the inestimable boon. Thus, the 
difficulty is at once removed; it is imme- 
diately perceived by all, that these three 
apparently diverse propositions, so far from 
involving a contradiction, are perfectly har- 
monious and entirely consistent with each 
other, and a subject, which at first ap- 
peared complex and intricate, becomes clear 
as the light of day. 

The utility of appropriate illustrations in 
rendering difficult subjects easy and plain, 
is proof sufficient that the subject of the 
present discourse is equally worthy of the 
careful study of the instructor of youth, and 
especially of the faithful Sabbath School 
teacher, as of the minister of the Gospel. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 19 



The power of illustration, while it is an emi- 
nently useful qualification to the instructor 
of men, is absolutely indispensable to the 
successful instructor of youth. 

Sometimes an appropriate comparison 
serves not only to elucidate a truth by an 
analogical fact, but also to prove that 
truth, by an analogical argument. Thus 
that beautiful illustration of the resurrec- 
tion, suggested by Butler, in his great mas- 
ter-piece of reasoning, " The Analogy of 
Revealed Religion/' — the transformation of 
the caterpillar, from a grovelling worm to 
a chrysalis, encased in its self-constructed 
tomb, and then bursting its sepulchre, and 
bounding forth a beautiful butterfly, ar- 
rayed in the gorgeous tints of the rain- 
bow, and fluttering in the rays of the 
morning sun ; — this beautiful illustration, 
I say, becomes a powerful argument from 
analogy, for the truth of the resurrection 



20 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



For if such a wonderful change is constant- 
ly taking place before our eyes, " why," 
it may well be asked, " should it be 
thought a thing incredible that God should 
raise the dead?"* 



#See Butler's Analogy, Parti, Chap. 1. The 
author cannot too highly recommend to students 
the edition of Butler's great work, with Dr. 
Barnes's Introductory Essay, of which it is high 
and merited praise to say, that it is worthy of 
the work which it introduces. The analogical ar- 
gument in favor of the resurrection, above referred 
to, is thus beautifully amplified by Barnes : 

" That the soul and body should be united again, 
and constitute a single being, is said to be without 
a parallel in fact in other things, to divest it of 
its inherent improbability. Now let us suppose for 
a moment that, endued with our present powers 
of thought, we had been united to bodies of far 
feebler frame and much more slender dimensions, 
than we now inhabit. Suppose that our spirits 
had been doomed to inhabit the body of a crawl- 
ing reptile, scarce an inch in length, prone on the 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 



21 



Let it not be supposed then, that be- 
cause, in the present discourse we shall 
dwell chiefly on the " Power of Illustra- 



earth, and doomed to draw out our little length 
to obtain locomotion from day to day, and scarce 
noticeable by the mighty beings above us. Suppose 
in that lowly condition, as we contemplated the 
certainty of our speedy dissolution, we should look 
upon our kindred reptiles, the partners of our 
cares, and should see their strength gradually 
waste, their faculties grow dim, their bodies be- 
come chill in death. Suppose now it should be 
revealed to us, that those bodies should undergo a 
transformation ; that at no great distance of time 
they should start up into new being; that in their 
narrow graves there should be seen the evidence 
of returning life ; and that these same deformed, 
prone, and decaying frames, should be clothed 
with the beauty of gaudy colors, be instinct with 
life, leave the earth, soar at pleasure in a new 
element, take their rank in a new order of beings, 
be divested of all that was offensive and loathsome 
in their old abode in the eyes of other beings ; 
and be completely dissociated from all the plans, 



22 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



tion," we are indifferent to the importance 
of weighty and forcible argument, to prove 
the truth of those doctrines we preach. 
No student of Butler's immortal Analogy 
need to be reminded of a fact, which forms 
the whole basis of that great work, that 
truthful and pointed illustrations or analo- 
gies, are often themselves the most powerful 
and convincing of arguments. 



habits, relations and feelings of their former lowly 
condition. We ask, whether against this supposi- 
tion there would not lie all the objections, which 
have ever been alleged against the doctrine of a 
resurrection and a future state ? Yet the world 
has long been familiar with changes of this char- 
acter. The changes which animal nature under- 
goes to produce the gay colors of the butterfly, 
have as much antecedent improbability as those 
pertaining to the predicted resurrection, and for 
aught that we can see, are improbabilities of pre- 
cisely the same nature." 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 23 



I hold the power of argument to be a 
qualification as indispensable to the preacher, 
as the power of illustration, although the 
theme I have selected for the present dis- 
course will lead me to dwell, almost exclu- 
sively, upon the latter. In calling atten- 
tion to the immediate discussion of this 
theme, I shall adopt the following arrange- 
ment : 

I. Explain the science of illustration, 
and specify the principal classes of analo- 
gies which it employs, with examples of 
the use of each. 

II. Explain what is meant by the power 
of illustration, and give some directions 
for its successful cultivation and improve- 
ment. 

In treating this important subject, I must 
be allowed to speak as a practical man. 
I have selected a subject, upon which com- 



24 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



paratively but little, (in my estimation, far 
too little,) is said in the works, which it 
has been my lot to examine, on Homilet- 
ics, Rhetoric, or Eloquence. And often 
has it been to me a matter of surprise, 
that, in the text-books on these subjects, 
hundreds of pages are sometimes occupied 
with instructions, relative to voice and man- 
ner, and action ; or to argument, and me- 
thod, and style ; — while the subject of il- 
lustration, if alluded to at all, is frequently 
dismissed with barely a passing remark. 
I know not how to account for the fact, 
unless it be that the writers of these works 
are sometimes men who have confined 
themselves too exclusively to the cloister 
or the college ; and whose literary and 
professional habits have precluded that 
practical acquaintance with pastoral pulpit 
labors, which would seem to be, at least 
desirable, to the successful instructor in 
pastoral duties. In the remarks which I 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 25 



shall offer upon the importance of pulpit 
illustration, I shall be guided, therefore, 
not by opinions expressed in books, but by 
the common sense observation of one who 
claims to be a plain and practical man, in 
the course of a not inactive ministry of 
some twenty years. But, to proceed to the 
first division of our subject : — 

I. The word illustrate, from the Latin 
illustrare, in its ordinary acceptation, sig- 
nifies to make clear or manifest, to clear 
from darkness or obscurity. In the present 
discourse I employ the word in the sense 
in which it is generally understood, when 
applied to the illustration of public dis- 
courses, viz. — to make clear or manifest 
by analogies, comparisons, or examples ; 
whether they be metaphors, similes, para- 
bles, illustrative examples, or historic allu- 
sions. 



(1.) The nature of the metaplior or 
3 



26 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



implied comparison, and the simile or for- 
mal comparison, and the distinction be- 
tween the former and the latter, I may 
safely presume are perfectly familiar to all 
who have given the slightest attention to 
the study of rhetoric, or are interested in 
the subject of the present discourse. — 
Description is, therefore, here unnecessary. 
An example or two will suffice. Both these 
kinds of illustrations are extensively used 
by the inspired writers. When the Psalm- 
ist says, " The Lord is my rock and my 
fortress, my buckler, and the horn of my 
salvation, and my high tower," * he illus- 
trates the protection of the Almighty to- 
wards his people by the use of the meta- 
phor ; for the comparison is implied. When 
he says — " As the mountains are round 
about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round 
about his people,"f he illustrates the same 



* Psalm xviii. 2. 



t Psalm cxxv. 2. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 27 



idea by the simile : for here the compari- 
son is expressed. 

The distinction between the two will be 
sufficiently understood by one additional ex- 
ample. In a recent lecture by the Hon. 
Horace Mann, when warning his auditors 
against the ruinous consequences of the in- 
culcation of false principles in the mind 
of the young, the lecturer employed the 
following forcible metaphor — " If we per- 
mit the vulture's eggs to be incubated 
and hatched, it will be too late to take 
care of the lambs." The comparison here, 
though sufficiently obvious, is only implied, 
and therefore, it belongs to the class of 
metaphor. If put in the form of the simile, 
it would stand as follows, though for terse- 
ness and force, this is an instance where 
the metaphor is preferable. " As the raven- 
ous vulture to the lambs of the flock, so are 
false principles to the minds of youth. As 



28 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



it would be too late to take care of the 
lambs after the vulture's eggs are incubated 
and hatched, so it will be too late to take 
care of the youth, when the seeds of error, 
implanted in their minds, have germinated.'' 

In the following example of the simile, 
penned by a ministerial acquaintance when 
suffering under the pressure of domestic 
bereavement and sorrow, one scarcely knows 
which to admire most — the tenderness and 
depth of the piety which the sentiment ex- 
hibits, or the delicacy and beauty of the 
illustration which is employed — "I feel 
that repeated afflictions come, not as light- 
nings on the scathed tree, blasting it yet 
more, but as the strokes of the sculptor 
on the marble block, forming it into the 
image of life and loveliness. Let but the 
divine presence be felt, and no lot is hard. 
Let me but see his hand, and no event is 
unwelcome." 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 29 j 



Permit me to add one example more of 
the simile, from an evangelical German 
divine,* as a specimen of the rich and gor- 
geous illustrations frequently employed by 
that poetic and imaginative people. u It 
has been said by some one," remarks this 
fervid and glowing preacher, " suppose the 
sun in the heavens, which enlightens and 
warms and fructifies everything, were a ra- 
tional being, which could see everything 
which it affects : — it would then behold 
its own image in every sea, in every river, 
in every lake, and in every brook; — nay, 
it would even see itself reflected on the 
loftiest mountains of ice ; — and would it 
not, in the abundance of its joy at such 
glorious radiance — forgetting itself — em- 
brace all these oceans, seas, and rivers — 
nay, the very glaciers in its arms, and de- 
light over them ? Thus Jesus Christ, the 



* F. W. Krummacher, D. D, 

3* 



30 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



Sun of Righteousness, beholds his image 
and divine work in every renewed soul as 
in a polished mirror. Thus our eternal 
Father beholds in his children the beauty 
of his Son, Jesus Christ, with a compla- 
cency, which is more than we are able 
to express. He embraces them with the 
arms of his love ; and he loves the image 
of himself in which he has renewed them." 

Some preachers have a delightful faculty 
of illustrating truth, whether in the pulpit, 
or in pastoral labors, by means of happy 
and appropriate suppositions, employed by 
way of simile or comparison. The late elo- 
quent and heavenly-minded Dr. Payson 
possessed this faculty in an eminent degree, 
and often used it with the most delightful 
results in his faithful and affectionate min- 
istrations. Those who are familiar with the 
history and writings of this holy man, will 
immediately call to mind a variety of in- 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 31 



stances. One or two specimens will suffice 
for our present purpose. " Suppose," says 
Dr. Payson, " you wished to separate a 
quantity of brass and steel filings, mixed 
together in one vessel ; — how would you 
effect this separation 1 Apply a loadstone, 
and immediately every particle of iron will 
attach itself to it, while the brass filings 
remain behind. Thus, if we see a com- 
pany of true and false professors of reli- 
gion, we may not be able to distinguish 
between them ; but let Christ come among 
them, and all his sincere followers will be 
attracted towards him, as the steel is drawn 
to the magnet, while those who have none 
of his spirit will remain at a distance." 
Is it possible, I ask, to conceive of any 
other form or figure of speech by which 
the exact idea in the mind of the speaker 
could have been more accurately or more 
forcibly conveyed to the mind of the hearer ? 
If the object of true eloquence be, as has 



32 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



sometimes been said, " The imparting to 
others the emotions with which we our- 
selves are agitated, "* then certainly, com- 
parisons like the above must be a powerful 
aid to the orator, in the performance of 
his task. 

Nor was Dr. Payson less happy in the 
chamber of sickness, or the dwellings of 
sorrow, in the employment of these illus- 
trations for the solace of the disconsolate 
or the bereaved. " Suppose/' said he, on 
one occasion to a Christian sufferer, who 
was almost in despair, because the influ- 
ence of her bodily agonies so distracted her 
mind, as to prevent her from concentrating 
her thoughts on the Saviour as she wished, 
" suppose you were to see a little sick 
child lying in its mother's lap, with its 
faculties impaired by its sufferings, so that 
it was generally in a troubled sleep ; but 



* Biblical Repository, Vol. VII. Second Series, p. 80. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 33 



now and then it just opens its eyes a lit- 
tle, and gets a glimpse of its mother's 
face, so as to be recalled to the recollec- 
tion that it is in its mother's arms ; and 
suppose that always, at such a time, it 
should smile faintly with evident pleasure 
to find where it was. Should you doubt 
whether that child loved its mother or 
not V* The application of the comparison, 
though not expressed, was easily made by 
the afflicted sufferer, and we are not sur- 
prized to hear that her doubts and despon- 
dency were gone in a moment. Equally 
happy was he on another occasion — so 
painfully familiar to every sympathizing pas- 
tor — a visit to a weeping Rachel, refusing 
to be comforted for the loss of a beloved 
child. " Suppose, now," said he, " some 
one was making a beautiful crown for you 
to wear, and that you knew it was for you, 
and that you were to receive it and wear 
it as soon as it should be done. Now, if 



34 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION 3 



the maker of it were to come, and, in or- 
der to make the crown more beautiful and 
splendid, were to take some of your jewels 
to put into it, — should you be sorrowful 
and unhappy, because they were taken away 
for a little while, when you knew they were 
gone to make up your crown ?" The mo- 
ther smiled through her tears at the thought 
that her jewel was taken from her but for 
a season, and said, in meek submission, 
" The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away, and blessed be the name of the 
Lord.' 3 

Happy, thrice happy, will it be for that 
preacher who shall be able to combine, as 
well in the pulpit, as in the parlor and 
the chamber of sorrow, the seraphic piety, 
the Christ-like tenderness, and the vivid 
power of illustration of the sainted Payson ! 

(2.) Leaving the consideration of the 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS . 35 



metaphor and simile, let us now proceed to 
the parabolic form of illustration. 

The word parable is derived from the 
Greek word TrapaBaWeiv, to cast, or place side 
by side, to compare ; and is defined by 
Bishop Lowth, (though not, in our opinion, 
with perfect exactness,) to be " that kind 
of allegory, which consists of a continued 
narration of a fictitious event, applied by 
the way of simile, to the illustration of 
some important truth." It would be for- 
eign from our present purpose to name the 
various senses in which the Hebrew word 
mashal, or the Greek word ™pa6o\n is em- 
ployed in the sacred Scriptures, as, when it 
is said of Job or of Balaam, " he took up 
his parable ; or by the sweet singer of Is- 
rael, " I will open my mouth in a parable, 
I will utter dark sayings of old or by the 
inspired author of the epistle to the He- 
brews, in describing the faith of Abraham 



36 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



in offering up Isaac — " accounting that 
God was able to raise him up, even from 
the dead ; from whence also he received 
him in a figure or, as it is in the Greek, 

tv xapai3o\f) : in a parable* 

In these, and many other instances, 
the word is not used in its proper and pri- 
mary, but in a secondary sense, The defi- 
nition of Lowth was not intended to in- 
clude all the significations of the word 
in the original Scriptures, but only that 
sense in which it is chiefly used by the 
four evangelists in relating the parables of 
our Lord. A parable is more complex 
than a simple comparison, an allegory more 
so than a parable. To refer, for example, 
to the immortal work of John Bunyan — 
the illustration of sin by a burden, or of 
despondency by a slough, or of death by a 



* Hebrews, xi. 19. — Greek. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 37 



river, is an instance of the comparison ; the 
lessons taught to Christian in the house of 
the interpreter are instances of the parable ; 
the " Pilgrim's Progress" is an instance of 
the allegory. The first may constantly be 
employed to illustrate, by its simplicity and 
point, the themes of the pulpit; the second j 
sometimes in the pulpit, but more frequent- 
ly in the familiarity of pastoral intercourse ; 
the third, though deeply interesting, and 
eminently instructive, when managed with 
ingenuity and skill, is yet too complex and 
protracted, except for the printed page. 

The earliest instance of the parable upon 
record, and one of the most beautiful in 
the Old Testament, is that of the bramble 
reigning over the trees, — employed by Jo- 
tham to rebuke the ingratitude, and to ex- 
hibit the folly and the danger of the Israel- 
ites in choosing as king, Jerubbaal, the 
murderer of his 70 brethren. " The trees 
4 



38 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



went forth on a time to anoint a king over 
them ; and they said unto the olive-tree, 
reign thou over us ; but the olive-tree said 
unto them, should I leave my fatness and 
go to be promoted over the trees ?" — 
A similar request and with similar results, 
is made to the fig-tree and to the vine. 
" Then said all the trees unto the bram- 
ble, — come thou and reign over us. And 
the bramble said unto the trees, if in truth 
ye anoint me king over you, then come 
and put your trust in my shadow ; and if 
not, let fire come out of the bramble and 
devour the cedars of Lebanon."* 

And how admirably adapted to its pur- 
pose was that beautiful and pathetic para- 
ble employed by Nathan, in order to bring 
the royal sinner to repentance for his hein- 
ous transgression. How intently does king 



* Judges, ix. 7 — 15. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 39 



David listen to the touching recital of the j 
man of God, as he describes the abound- 
ing wealth of the rich oppressor, with his 
" exceeding many flocks and herds" — the 
penury of the poor man, possessed of " no- 
thing, save a little ewe-lamb, which he had 
bought and nourished up : and which grew 
up together with him, and his children ; 
which did eat of his own meat, and drank | 
of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and 
was unto him as a daughter." How in- 
stantaneously is the anger of the royal lis- 
tener excited against the heartless plun- 
derer of the poor man's lamb, as, fired 
with indignation, he oversteps even the 
limits of justice, and pronounces upon the 
rich and barbarous oppressor the sentence j 
of death. " As the Lord liveth, the man j 
that hath done this thing shall surely die." | 
And how sincere was that self-condemna- 
tion, penitence, and contrition, which re- 
sulted from the pointed and cutting appli- 



40 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



cation of the parable. " Thou art the 

MAN !"* 

The great utility of the parabolic form 
of conveying instruction and reproof, as 
may be seen by the above instances, is 
(1.) that an interest in the listener is 
awakened, and attention secured ; (2.) an 
attractive narrative is substituted for a long 
chain of argument; (3.) the hearer be- 
comes a judge in his own case, before he 
is aware of the design of the narration ; 
and (4.) his reason and conscience are often 
compelled to pass sentence upon himself, 
before self-love has aroused itself to place 
him on his guard. 

With what inimitable beauty and skill 



*2 Sam., xii. 1 — 7. The effect of Nathan's re- 
proof may be seen in that touching confession and 
prayer "of a broken and contrite heart, the 51st 
Psalm. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 41 



does " the Great Teacher," who " spake as 
never man spake/ 5 employ this mode of 
enlightening the ignorance, rebuking the 
ingratitude, or condemning the obduracy of 
his hearers. True, the result was not al- j 
ways to produce the contrition and the 
penitence of a David ; for sometimes, when j 
the reason was convinced, and the con- j 
science was compelled to make the appli- 
cation, the pride and obduracy of the 
heart were still unsubdued. Thus did it 
happen, that after our blessed Lord had 
exposed the madness and the cruelty of ; 
the Jews, and foretold their approaching ; 
fate, in the parable of the vineyard and j 
the husbandmen, who destroyed, first the 
servants, and then the " beloved son" of j 
their Lord ; — that his auditors were com- 
pelled to self-application, and perceived the 
justice and felt the severity of the reproof, 
while they still hated the reprover. For 

" the chief priests and the scribes the same 
4* 



42 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION ? 



hour/ 5 says the evangelist, " sought to lay 
hands on him ; and they feared the people ; 
for they perceived that he had spoken this 
parable against them,"* 

The richness and beauty, the instruc- 
tiveness and variety of our Saviour's para- 
bles, is a theme too copious even to touch 
upon in the present discourse. It is suffi- 
cient to say, that they constitute a com- 
plete and invaluable model for the study 
and imitation of all whose duty it is to 
teach and to preach the truths of that 
gospel which Christ himself proclaimed, in 
such a way that the multitudes " hung 
upon"t his lips, and " the common people 
heard him gladly."! And it is certainly, 



* Luke, xx. 19. Compare Mark, xii. 1 — 12. 

t Luke, xix. 48. " All the people were very 
attentive to hear him. Greek, tieKpsparo — from 
Yi<KpC}ianaL — to hang ujjon, i. e. his lips. 

X Mark, xii. 37. 

I 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 43 



a sufficient reply to those who affect to 
undervalue or to despise the illustrative 
mode of preaching or of teaching, that of 
all the public instructions of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the only perfect preacher that 
ever lived, a very large proportion, prob- 
ably more than one-half of all that are re- 
corded, were delivered in the form of 
comparison or parable. 

Why is it, I have often thought, that 
some men of education and study, seem 
almost entirely to neglect, if not to de- 
spise a mode of teaching, so constantly 
adopted in the instructions, and so emi- 
nently sanctioned by the example of Christ 
himself, that divine master, from whom 
they profess to hold their commission to 
preach, and who has said, " as my Father 
hath sent me, even so send I you ?" — 
Why is it that some of our young men, 
fresh from the University or the Theolo- 



44 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



gical Institution, with the ink of their di- 
plomas scarcely dry, imagining that be- 
cause they have completed a course of 
study, they must now be, of necessity, pro- 
foundly intellectual, and wondrous wise, 
look down, with ill-disguised contempt, upon 
men, vastly their superiors in all that con- 
stitutes ministerial efficiency, and affect to 
exclude them from their circle of intellec- 
tual preachers ; simply because, — avoiding 
the abstract and the dry — they aim, like 
their master, Jesus, to adapt their dis- i 
courses to the comprehension of all, by 
familiar and appropriate illustrations, drawn 
from the common affairs of every day life ? 
Let me be understood. I do not mean to 
assert that it is, by any means, a frequent i 
failing among really intellectual men, thus i 
to despise the faculty of illustrating truth 
by familiar and well-chosen analogies. It 
is generally the sciolist, the would-be intel- 
lectual, the man who has not yet shaken off, 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 45 



by contact with men as they are in this 
every-day world, the starch and the stiff- 
ness of college-halls, who, from his ima- 
ginary height among the stars, thus looks 
down upon those homespun preachers, who 
dwell among men, and deal in the things 
of real life, and who dare to eschew scho- 
lastic distinctions, and metaphysical subtle- 
ties, at the fearful risk of being punished 
for their temerity, by the charge, hurled 
at their heads by these self-same intellec- 
tuals, of " catering for the popular taste." 

Well, let these scholastic gentlemen, till 
experience shall teach them a wiser course, 
expatiate, to their heart's content, upon 
their entities and quiddities, their substrata 
and accidents, their objectives and subjec- 
tives, their subjects and predicates. They 
have chosen a region, above that terrestrial 
atmosphere, in which common men live, 
and move, and have their being. They 



46 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



are soaring among the stars, and they 
need not wonder, if they are left to soar 
alone. In a few years, if they live so long, 
they will probably make the discovery that 
they are " not appreciated,'' grow weary of 
their lofty and lonely flight, descend again 
to this terrestrial atmosphere, and instead 
of scattering the husks of truth among 
their congregations, learn to crack the nut 
at home, leave the shells in their study, 
and feed their people with the kernel.* 



* There is much truth in the following eloquent 
remarks of a gifted pastor in Philadelphia : — 
" There are numbers, in every section of the land, 
who have come forth, with rich literary attain- 
ments, from the university and tire seminary, and 
who are adepts in the theory of their profession, 
but yet, when brought into the field of real ser- 
vice, prove utterly wanting in practical dexterity, 
and are mere nullities in the Church, because of 
this defect They are pious and learned ; they 
possess noble gifts, both natural and acquired ; and 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 47 



My young brethren, who are just about 
buckling on the armor of the gospel min- 
istry, never be ashamed to adopt Christ 



in the seclusion of the study they can prepare 
very excellent and weighty sermons ; but they can 
no more produce them with effect before an audi- 
ence, than the fabled Vulcan could wield the thun- 
derbolts he had forged. In the distance and chil- 
ling reserve with which their spirits are wrapt up, 
they are as widely separated from the regards 
and sympathies of the busy, breathing, living 
world, as the hermit in his remote cell, or the 
lone astronomer on his mountain-height. They are 
not working and every-day men ; they have not 
the power of bringing their thoughts and feelings 
to bear upon others ; and the consequence is, that 
their labors, both in the pulpit, and the more pri- 
vate walks of pastoral life, are unacceptable, unin- 
teresting and feeble. One plain, unlettered preacher, 
with his warm heart and glowing utterance, his 
practical habits, and his intuitive perception of 
human passions and prejudices, will achieve more 
for the advancement of Zion, than an army of 
those slow, torpid book-worms, with the starch of 



48 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



himself as your model in preaching. You 
cannot be in better company, than when 
travelling by his side. You cannot be in 
better employment, than when listening to 
his words, and studying his example. You 
cannot be safer, than when the shaft of 
criticism or of censure hurled at yourself, 
must, before it can reach you, light upon 
the Master whom you serve. 

Some of you may, perhaps, be contem- 
plating a missionary field. If this should 



the college yet stiff upon them, with their heads 
of knowledge and souls of ice, their frigid man- 
ners, and their sluggish delivery that lulls like an 
opiate. It is not by such men that the world is 
to be roused and shaken. It is not by such men 
that the crowds of impenitent sinners are to be 
disturbed in their fatal repose; or the slumbering 
host of God's elect awakened to glorious deeds, 
and led on from victory to victory, until the earth 
alone shall be the limit of its conquests." — Minis- 
try for the Times. By Rev. G. B. Ide, page 31. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 49 



be so, the exhortation comes to you with 
redoubled force — take Christ both as the 
theme and the model of your preaching 
among the heathen. How, I ask, would 
that missionary succeed in arresting the 
attention, and instructing the minds of the 
heathen, who should slight or neglect to 
cultivate the power of illustration ? Does 
not the whole history of missions prove, 
and is not every experienced missionary 
ready to testify, that the men who have 
best succeeded in enlightening the minds 
and benefitting the souls of the heathen, 
have been those who, in their ministra- 
tions, have most closely followed the ex- 
ample of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the 
copious use of instructive, appropriate, and 
familiar analogies? A single example of 
the kind of parables frequently employed 
by missionaries in oriental countries, for the 
purpose of illustrating the truths of the 
5 



50 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



gospel, may not be considered here out of 
place. 

Says the Rev. C. B. Leupolt, a useful 
missionary in India, " I one day preached 
on the general corruption of mankind, and 
the impossibility of being saved by our 
own works. A person present expressed 
his surprise at my assertions, and cried 
out, ' How can this be true, that whosoever 
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in 
one point, is guilty of all? How can this 
be? If I keep six of the commandments, 
and break four, have I not kept the ma- 
jority ? And is not God in justice bound 
to give me heaven, because I have kept 
more than I have broken?' 

In explaining these results, says Mr, 
Leupolt, I could never make the common 
people understand me without a parable. 
Instead of entering into an argument, I 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 51 



have often replied by describing a scene on 
the Ganges: — ' The day was dismal, the 
wind roared, the thunder pealed, the light- 
ning was vivid, the waves of the Ganges 
raged, the stream was swollen, and the cur- 
rent rapid, the infuriated elements threat- 
ened destruction to every vessel on its 
waters; no boat could outlive the storm for 
any length of time. — But, see, what is 
that? It is a boat in distress, filled with 
people, rapidly hurried along by the waves. 
Between the peals of thunder, the shrieks 
of the people are heard : they fear the 
rocks on the shore, to which the current 
is driving them. Could they but be drawn 
into this creek, they would be safe. Those 
on shore look anxiously around, and dis- 
cover a chain lying near them. A man 
instantly fastens a stone to the rope, binds 
the other end to the chain, and flings the 
stone into the boat. The rope is caught ; 
the people eagerly lay hold on the chain, 



52 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



while those on shore begin to draw them, 
amid the raging elements, toward the creek. 
They already rejoice at the prospect of de- 
liverance ; but when they are within a few 
yards of the land, one link of the chain 
breaks ; I do not say ten links, but one 
link, in the middle of the chain. What 
shall these distressed people do now ? — 
Shall they cling to the unbroken links? 5 
' No ! no !' exclaimed one of my hearers ; 
■ overboard with the chain, or it will sink 
them the sooner.' What then shall they 
do 1 6 Cast themselves upon the mercy of 
God !' exclaimed another. ( True/ I re- 
plied ; 6 if one commandment be broken, it 
is as though all of them were broken ; we 
cannot be saved by them ; we must trust 
in the mercy of God, and lay hold on the 
almighty hand of Christ, which is stretched 
out to save us.' I have frequently used 
this parable, says the missionary, and always 
found it to answer." 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 53 



There is another class of illustrations, 
bearing a very close resemblance, if they 
are not absolutely identical, with those 
which we have last considered. — I shall 
term it the illustration by parabolic facts, 
in distinction from parabolic suppositions. 
In the latter, the narrative which forms the 
basis of the parable is fictitious, in the 
former it is real. In the one 5 the events 
of the narrative are imaginary, in the other 
they are true. The use of the narrative 
is, in both cases, precisely the same. In 
the one case, we illustrate a truth by an 
analogical fiction, in the other case by an 
analogical fact. — The definition of Bishop 
Lowth, it is true, would exclude the ana- 
logical fact from the class of parables, yet 
its value would be undiminished, though 
called by another name ; and surely, it must 
be admitted by all, that a parabolic fact, 
if equally well-adapted to illustrate a given 
truth, cannot be less valuable than a para- 
5* 



54 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



bolic fiction. Both are valuable when judi- 
ciously employed; and, in the opinion of 
many of the ablest biblical scholars, both 
were used in the parabolic instruction of 
Christ, and thus sanctioned by his exam- 
ple. What can be more probable than that, 
that most touching and beautiful of all the 
parables of our divine instructor, " the 
Good Samaritan besides, perhaps, some 
others, was the relation of an actual oc- 
currence ? 

For this reason, I prefer the amended 
form of Lowth's definition of a parable, 
given by the compiler of the Encyclopedia 
of Religious Knowledge, where he alters 
the words of Lowth, from " the continued 
narration of a fictitious event" — to " ficti- 
tious or accommodated event."* Although 



* The words of Lowth, as given by the accurate 
translator of his Prelections (I have not the on- 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 55 



it may be questioned whether it is quite 
consistent with historical accuracy to attri- 
bute the definition thus amended, to Bishop 
Lowth ; yet the addition is sufficient to 
prove that in the opinion of the estimable 
and industrious compiler of that useful 
work, real as well as imaginary events may 
properly be employed for the purposes of 
parable ; and that analogical facts are as 
suitable materiel for this kind of illustra- 
tion as analogical suppositions. 

The field of illustration thus opened in 
the class of parabolic or analogical facts, 



ginal Latin of Lowth at hand) are "that kind of 
allegory which consists in the continued narration 
of a fictitious event, applied by way of simile to 
the illustration of some important truth." — See 
Gregory's Translation of Lowth's Prelections, page 
83. The definition is correctly quoted by Thomas 
Hartwell Horne, in his " Introduction to the Crit- 
ical Study of the Scriptures," Part II., chap. 2, § 5. 



56 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



is one of vast extent and almost infinite 
variety. True, it is liable to abuse, and 
some have unquestionably erred by a too 
copious and indiscriminate use of illustra- 
tions of this class. Yet it is a legitimate 
field. Christ himself did not disdain to 
pluck its flowers. And when judiciously 
and appropriately used, no class of illustra- 
tions will be more likely to rivet the at- 
tention, interest the heart, impress the me- 
mory, and instruct the understanding of 
the hearers. Permit me to give one or two 
examples of this kind of illustration. 

Suppose, for instance, it is the design 
of the preacher to show, that He, who is 
" the altogether lovely, and the chief among 
ten thousand," should occupy the chief 
place in the heart of the believer, and that 
sometimes objects of earthly delight are re- 
moved, because they have drawn the heart 
from God. How could the idea be more 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 



57 



beautifully illustrated than by the relation 
of the following fact? "A Spanish artist 
was once employed to execute a painting 
of the 6 Last Supper.' It was his object 
to throw all the sublimity of his art into 
the figure and countenance of the Saviour ; 
but on the table, in the foreground of the 
picture, he painted some chased cups, so 
exceedingly beautiful and so skilfully paint- 
ed, that the attention of all who called to 
see the picture was at once attracted to 
the cups, and every one was loud in their 
praise. The painter observing this, saw 
that he had failed in his design of directing 
attention to the principal object in the pic- 
ture, and exclaiming — ' I have made a 
mistake, for these cups divert the eyes of 
the spectator from the Master he imme- 
diately seized his brush, and dashed them 
from the canvass. 5 ' 

Take another example of this kind of 



58 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



illustration, which may be used most for- 
cibly to illustrate that passage of Scripture, 
" By the deeds of the law shall no flesh 
be justified. 5 ' Sir Thomas Thornhill was 
the person who painted the inside of the 
cupola of St. Paul's Church, London. — 
After having finished one of the compart- 
ments, he stepped back gradually to see 
how it would look at a distance. Beneath 
the scaffolding, and at a depth which 
caused dizziness, even to contemplate, was 
the hard stone floor of the building. Gra- 
dually receding, with his eye intently fixed 
on the painting, he had reached the very 
edge of the scaffolding without being aware 
of his danger. Another step, and he would 
have been dashed to pieces on the pave- 
ment below ! At this instant a spectator 
perceiving the imminent danger of the ar- 
tist, and fearing if he called to him he 
would look behind him, and fall from mere 
dizziness, suddenly snatched up one of the 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 59 



brushes and dashed it against the picture. 
Sir James, transported with indignation, 
sprang forward to save the remainder of 
his work from ruin. His rage, however, 
was soon changed into gratitude, when his 
deliverer explained the reason of his con- 
duct, and showed him that by marring the 
painting, he had saved the life of the 
painter. Thus is it, my brethren, that all 
men are by nature disposed to regard their 
own works with admiration ; and this admi- 
ration would prove their ruin, did not the 
Holy Spirit, in order to save them from 
being destroyed by their Pharasaic self- 
righteousness, show them the worthlessness 
of all human performances, that they may 
fly to Christ to be saved by a better right- 
eousness than their own. 

Who can fail to perceive that the truths 
illustrated by the foregoing incidents, are 
taught with much greater clearness, and 



60 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



will be far more likely to be understood 
and remembered, than if they had been 
simply enunciated, in the didactic form, 
without any attempt to deepen the impres- 
sion by forcible and appropriate illustra- 
tion ? And surely none will affirm that 
the illustrations employed are any the less 
valuable, because they are actual occur- 
rences, than they would have been had 
they consisted of suppositions, invented for 
the occasion. 

3. The illustrative example, which is 
the next kind of illustration, consists in 
the relation of, or allusion to actual occur- 
rences, for the purpose of warning, en- 
couragement, emulation, or example. 

It is different entirely from the parable. 
The basis of the latter may be either fact 
or fiction ; that of the former must, in- 
variably, be fact. The scope or drift of a 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 61 



parable is often hidden or obscure, and a 
mind of but little power of perceiving an- 
alogies, might hear or read the narrative 
which forms the basis of the parable, with- 
out at first discovering the design of the 
narrator. On the contrary, the design of 
the illustrative example is evident upon the 
very face of it, and is perceived the in- 
stant it is related. The former illustrates 
that which is abstract and comparatively 
obscure, by resemblances which are sensible 
and easy. The latter illustrates a duty by 
an individual instance of its exercise, or 
guards against an error or a crime by an 
individual instance of the consequences of 
either. In a parable, the thing compared is 
generally, in its own nature, different from 
that to which it is compared. Thus, in its 
own nature, leaven is an entirely different 
thing from gospel truth, wheat from good 
men, and tares from bad men. In an il- 
lustrative example, the illustration given is 
6 



62 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



always similar in its nature to the truth 
illustrated. The thirteenth chapter of Mat- 
thew is a collection of parables. The 
eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a collec- 
tion of illustrative examples. When our 
Lord sai'd — "The kingdom of heaven is 
like to a grain of mustard seed, which a 
man took and sowed in his field," &c. — 
he uttered a parable. When he said, " The 
men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment 
with this generation, and shall condemn it, 
because they repented at the preaching of 
Jonah," — or when, to guard his followers 
against the danger of looking back, he ex- 
claimed — " Remember Lot's wife," — he 
cited an illustrative example. 

One great source from which the preacher 
should draw illustrations of this descrip- 
tion is the sacred Scriptures ; yet he 
is by no means to be forbidden to seek 
them anywhere else. The lives of holy 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 63 



men, in every age, have become the pro- 
perty of the church ; and the character and 
the crimes, the unhappy life and the mis- 
erable end of the bad man, in every age, 
may rightfully be cited by the preacher, 
as beacon-warnings, to admonish the living 
that " the end of these things is death." 

Does the preacher wish to illustrate the 
power and the efficacy of prayer ? He 
is at liberty to select his illustration, either 
from the Bible or elsewhere; he may point 
either to an Elijah or a Daniel ; or to a 
Luther or a Whitfield. Does he wish to 
exhibit the good man's desire for the ex- 
tension of genuine religion, he may cite 
the example of David, exclaiming — " Let 
the whole earth be filled with his glory. 
Amen and Amen." And then adding, as 
if every wish of his heart was concentra- 
ted in that — " The prayers of David the 
son of Jesse are ended." Or he may point 



64 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



to the holy Backus, informed by his physi- 
cian that he cannot live more than thirty 
minutes longer, and then saying — " Is it 
so? then take me out of my bed and place 
me on my knees : let me spend that half 
hour in calling upon God for the salvation 
of the world and then, literally, dying 
upon his knees. 

Does the preacher wish to prove that the 
great and the godly man is ever an humble 
man ? he may point to a Job, " abhorring 
himself, and repenting in dust and ashes 
or to a Wm. Carey, selecting as the text 
of his funeral sermon — " Have mercy upon 
me, O God, according unto thy loving 
kindness, according to the multitude of thy 
tender mercies, blot out my transgres- 
sions."* 

* The author heard this fact related, (though 
not mentioned in the Memoir,) by the Rev. Eustace 
Carey, the nephew and biographer of Dr. Carey. 
The remark was made by the venerable mission- 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 65 



Does he wish to exhibit the power of 
religion in enabling its possessor to die in 



aiy during a a dangerous illness, from which he 
eventually recovered. The inquiry was made — 
"If this sickness should provej fatal, what pas- 
sage would you select as the text of your funeral 
sermon?" When the great and good man replied, 
"Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature as I, 
is unworthy to have anything said about him ; 
but if a funeral sermon should be preached, 
let it be from the 51st Psalm, and first verse — 
' Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy 
loving kindness ; according unto the multitude of 
thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.' " 

The following extract from the last Will of the 
same eminent missionary, is equally illustrative of 
the genuine humility of his character. " I direct 
that my funeral be as plain as possible, and that 
the following inscription, and nothing more, may 
be cut out on my grave-stone, viz : 

1 William Carey, born August 17th, 1761; died- 

' A wretched, poor, and helpless worm, 
On thy kind arras I fall.' " 

6* 



66 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



peace ? He may cite a Jacob, exclaiming, 
with his dying breath — "I have waited for 
thy salvation, O Lord ;" or he may point 
to a Boardman in the jungle, witnessing 
the baptism of thirty-four of his beloved 
Karens, and then meekly exclaiming, before 
he closes his eyes in death — " Lord, now 
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
Or turning again to the Scriptures, he may 
point to a Paul, as he gazes upon the 
grisly king of terrors, and exclaims, — 
" O grave where is thy victory, O death 
where is thy sting." Or he may point 
to a dying Baxter, replying with feeble 
voice to the question — How are you ? — 
" Almost well." — To a Rutherford, exclaim- 
ing — "I feel, I feel, I believe, I joy, I 
rejoice, I feed on manna ! my eyes shall 
see my Redeemer, and I shall be for ever 
with him. * * * Christ is mine and I 
am his ! Glory, glory to my Creator and 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 67 



Redeemer for ever ! Glory shines in Im- 
manuePs land ! O for arms to embrace 
him ! O for a well-tuned harp !" — Or to 
a Payson, with a body racked by incon- 
ceivable agony, and cheeks pale and sun- 
ken with disease — exclaiming, like a war- 
rior returning from the field of triumph, 
"The battle's fought! the battle's fought! 
and the victory is won ! The victory is 
won for ever ! I am going to bathe in an 
ocean of purity, and benevolence, and hap- 
piness to all eternity !" 

Or does the preacher wish to illustrate 
the effect of bereaving providences on the 
mind of a good man ? he may point to the 
afflicted royal mourner, drying his tears, 
now his beloved child is gone, and com- 
forting himself with the reflection, " I shall 
go to him, but he shall not return to me." 
Or he may describe an instance of recent 
occurrence, such as that which is so touch- 



63 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



ingly told in the following words of an 
eye and ear witness: — " About six years 
ago/ 5 says a clergyman of New-York city, 
" I was travelling on the borders of the 
Hudson, and on the most beautiful por- 
tion of that noble stream, where its waters 
seem to rest against the highlands of Fish- 
kill, and form the Newburgh Bay. I was 
riding on the western shore, dotted with 
elegant country-seats, and so elevated as to 
command a fine view of the opposite county 
of Dutchess. Passing a substantial mansion, 
I observed carriages standing around the 
entrance, and a hearse, that plainly indi- 
cated the occasion of the gathering. It 
was something more than curiosity, it was 
the dictate of natural sympathy, that indu- 
ced me to stop and mingle with the mul- 
titude. 

It was easy to learn from the first whom 
I addressed, that a young man, the son of 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 69 



parents now advanced in life, was to be 
buried. The clergyman in attendance was 
just closing his remarks when I stopped 
at the door ; and after a short but eloquent 
pause in the services, for silence is always 
eloquent in the house of mourning, the 
afflicted father rose, and overcoming the 
emotion with which he struggled, spoke a 
few words to the friends that surrounded 
him. Said he, i A few months ago one of 
my sons removed to the other side of the 
river, and resides on the shore in view of 
the spot where we are assembled. And 
now I find that my thoughts are over there 
far more frequently than they were before. 
I had friends there whom I loved, and I 
had an interest in the people, but, / had 
no son there ; but since that child has been 
a resident beyond the river, my heart is 
there often, and loves to be there. So it 
has been with me during the few days 
that have passed since this other son cros- 



70 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



sed the river of death, and, as I trust, has 
entered into heaven. My thoughts are often 
there now. True, I had friends there be- 
fore ; a father there ; but I had no child. 
Now I have an interest in heaven, such as 
I never felt till one of my children went 
there to live V " 

Sweet and precious thought! May your 
thoughts, my young ministering brethren, 
often fly across the river, to contemplate 
your glorious home above ! And may you 
possess, in an eminent degree, the power 
of directing the thoughts of the people for 
whose spiritual good you may labor, thither 
also ! 

"And as a bird each fond endearment tries, 

To lure her new-fledged offspring to the sides ; — 

Employ each art, reprove each dull delay, 

And point to brighter worlds, and lead the way." 

4. The only remaining class of illustra- 
tions, to which I deem it necessary briefly 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 71 



to allude, is the classic or historical allu- 
sion. Perhaps, however, it is hardly proper 
to regard this as a separate class, as these 
illustrations may generally be referred, either 
to the comparison, the parable, or the illus- 
trative example. No reader of the eloquent 
discourses of the Rev. Dr. Williams, can 
have failed to perceive the frequent and 
exceedingly happy and beautiful manner in 
which he brings the results of his exten- 
sive reading to bear upon the illustration 
of his themes, in the form of rich and 
varied classic and historical allusions. 

Permit me to select an example or two 
from a discourse studded all through with 
these gems of classic beauty.* The author 
had been describing the hideous character, 
and the baneful consequences of a litera- 



* The Conservative Principle in our Literature, 
by William R. Williams, D. D. Passim. 



72 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



ture of passion, when divorced from virtue ; 
a literature which " substitutes as a guide in 
morals, sentiment for conscience, and makes 
blind feeling the irresistible fate, whose will 
none may dispute." Of such a literature 
he remarks, " It has much of occasional 
tenderness, and can melt at times into 
floods of sympathy : but this softness is 
found strangely blended with a savage vio- 
lence. Such things often co-exist. As in 
the case of the French hangman, who in 
the times of their great revolution was 
found, fresh from his gory work at the 
guillotine, sobbing over the Sorrows of 
Werther, it contrives to ally the sanguinary 
to the sentimental, It seems at first sight, 
much such an ill-assorted match as if the 
family of Mr. Wet-eyes, in one of Bun- 
yan's matchless allegories, were wedded to 
that of Giant Bloody-man in the other. 
But it is easily explained. It has been 
found so in all times when passion has 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 73 



been made to take the place of reason 
as the guide of a people, and conscience 
has been thrust from her throne to be 
succeeded by sentiment. The luxurious 
and the cruel, the fierce and the voluptu- 
ous, the licentious and the relentless, read- 
ily coalesce ; and we soon are made to 
perceive the fitness of the classic fable by 
which, in the old Greek mythology, Venus 
was seen knitting her hands with Mars : 
the goddess of sensuality, allying herself 
with the god of slaughter." 

In another beautiful passage the author 
had uttered a faithful warning against " the 
spirit of expediency and of gain," being 
allowed to pervade the literature and the 
pulpits of our land, when he exclaims — 
" No ! — gain is not godliness ! Man was 
made for other purposes than to exchange 
dollars or cents. The fable of Midas pes- 
tered with his riches, and unable to eat 
7 



74 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



because his food turned to gold, is full of 
beneficial instruction in such times as ours. 
Man has wants which money cannot sup- 
ply, and sorrows which lucre cannot heal : 
although cupidity may teach him often to 
make expediency or immediate utility the 
standard of his code of morals." 

A single additional instance is all 
that my limits will permit me to cite, 
and perhaps all that will be necessary as 
an example of the historical allusion. It 
is selected, not merely for its exceeding 
beauty and richness, but chiefly because of 
the important lesson it enjoins upon the 
faithful minister of Christ. "It is one of 
the traditions of the age of chivalry, 5 ' says 
Dr. W., " that a Scottish king, when dying, 
bequeathed his heart to the most trusted 
and beloved of his nobles, to be carried 
to Palestine. Enclosing the precious de- 
posit in a golden case, and suspending it 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 



75 



from his neck, the knight went out with 
his companions. He found himself, when 
on his way to Syria, hardly pressed by the 
Moors of Spain. To animate himself to 
supernatural efforts, as it were, that he 
might break through his thronging foes, he 
snatched the charge entrusted to him from 
his neck, and flinging it into the midst of 
his enemies, exclaimed — ' Forth, heart 
of Bruce ! as thou wast wont, and Doug- 
lass will follow thee or die V And so he 
perished, in the endeavor to reclaim it from 
the trampling feet of the infidels, and to 
force his way out. — Even such will you 
feel your own position to be, when en- 
countering the hosts of heathenism. Your 
Master's heart has flung itself in advance 
of your steps. In the rushing crowds that 
withstand you, there is not one whom that 
heart has not cared for and pitied, how- 
ever hostile and debased, unlovely and vile. 
It is your business to follow the leadings 



76 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



of his heart, and to pluck it, as it were, 
from beneath the feet of those who, in ig- 
norance and enmity, would tread it in the 
dust." 

II. We have thus taken a hasty glance 
at the principal classes of illustrations, and 
presented examples of each. It is now 
time that we proceed to show what we 
mean by " the power of illustration,' 5 
and to give some brief directions for its 
successful cultivation and improvement. 

I know not that I can give a better 
definition of my meaning than in the words 
of the Rev. Dr. Bacon of New-Haven, 
found in a passing remark on this subject, 
in an able discourse on " the causes and 
corruption of Pulpit Eloquence." — "The 
power of illustration/ 5 says he, " is nothing 
else than the ready perception of analo- 
gies, with an abundant store of various 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 77 



and familiar information. In other words, 
the ready perception of analogies, and the 
possession of analogies to be perceived."* 

In order that the power of illustration 
may be possessed in a high degree, I 
would remark, five things are necessary. 
They are (1.) a habit of observation; (2.) 
extensive and varied reading; (3.) a reten- 
tive memory, to be used as a store-house 
for the facts collected by observation and 
reading; (4.) a thorough acquaintance with 
the truths to be illustrated ; and (5.) a 
readiness in perceiving analogies, that the 
facts collected may be applied to the illus- 
tration of the truths to be taught. 

Where all these qualifications unite in 
the same individual, if he have ready ut- 
terance, good common sense, and genuine 



* Biblical Repository, Vol. I, Second Series, p. 35. 



78 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION 3 



piety, he can hardly fail to make a useful, 
interesting and successful instructor, whether 
in the sacred desk, in the Sabbath School, 
or in the professor's chair. 

The possession of one or two of them 
will not suffice. If he have the first and 
second without the third, his mind will be 
like a sieve, he may rapidly gain ideas> 
but they will be no sooner acquired than 
lost. If he have the first three, without 
the last, his mind may become like a vast 
storehouse crowded with useful commodi- 
ties, but utterly valueless to him, because 
ignorant of their use, and unable, there- 
fore, to turn them to any good account. 
If he possess all the rest, without the fourth, 
he will be in danger of indulging in false 
analogies and puerile fancies, of turning 
the plainest historical facts in the Bible 
into imaginary typical and emblematical 
arguments in favor of whatever crude fan- 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 79 



cy may take possession of his brain ; like 
an English Antinomian preacher who, in 
conversation with myself, pitied my spir- 
itual blindness, because I could not see, 
in the two stones of the brook with which 
David killed Goliath, the law and the gos- 
pel, with which Christ shall destroy the 
devil; or like another of the same class, 
of whom I have heard, who extracted a proof 
of the final perseverance of the saints, from 
Christ's riding an ass into Jerusalem.* 



* "My brethren," said this pulpit prodigy — 
" my brethren, you are all asses, and Christ is ri- 
ding you into the New- Jerusalem, and in spite of 
all your kicking and plunging, he'll bring you 
safely there." I presume the reader will agree 
with me, that there was truth in the first six 
words of this singular address, at least. Few will 
deny that the audience were entitled to the in- 
teresting appellation applied to them, for listening 
to such preaching. 



80 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



A thorough knowledge of the truths to 
be illustrated, a deep and familiar acquaint- 
ance with the doctrines and duties of 
Christianity, in their mutual dependence, and 
beautiful harmony with each other, com- 
bined with good common sense, will furnish 
a sufficient corrective against that absolute 
prostitution of the power of illustration ex- 
hibited in the above and similar ludicrous 
instances. The qualities essential to emi- 
nence in the power of illustration will, 
perhaps, be best understood by one or two 
successful examples of its exercise. 

Does Jeremy Taylor, that Chrysostom of 
the English pulpit, seek for an illustration 
to exhibit the connection that ever exists 
between genuine humility and exalted pie- 
ty — between a lowly mind and a heavenly 
mind? — His habit of observation has led 
him to notice that the English sky-lark builds 
her nest on the ground, lowlier than all 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 81 



the feathered tribe, and yet that she soars 
the highest, filling the morning air with 
her sweet and cheerful notes. His memory 
has treasured up this fact, and his ready 
perception has suggested to his mind the 
application of the analogy, thus producing 
that beautiful comparison which has been 
so happily versified by Montgomery : 

" The bird that soars on highest wing, 
Builds on the ground her lowly nest; 

And she that doth most sweetly sing, 
Sings in the shade when all things rest; 

In lark and nightingale we see 

What honor hath humility. 

The saint that wears heaven's brightest crown 

In deepest adoration bends ; 
The weight of glory bows him down, 

Then most, when most his soul ascends. 
Nearest the throne itself must be 
The footstool of humility." 



82 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



But Jeremy Taylor observes yet further. 
He sees the little bird, perchance on some 
stormy morning, beating against the wind 
in its upward flight, and compelled to re- 
turn, and to rest, panting on the ground, 
till it can recover strength for the renewal 
of its flight ; and again his fertile and 
poetic mind perceives another beautiful an- 
alogy. The little bird is now the good 
man's spirit, struggling to ascend toward 
the throne of mercy, yet impeded in its 
heaven-ward flight by the unhallowed tem- 
pest of earthly corruption, and able to re- 
new its flight and soar aloft, only when 
passion and pride are conquered. — " For 
so have I seen," says he, " a lark, rising 
from its bed of grass, and soar upwards, 
singing as it rises, and hoping to get to heav- 
en, and climbing above the clouds ; but the 
poor bird was driven back by the loud 
sighing of an eastern wind, and his mo- 
tion made irregular and inconstant, de- 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 83 



scending more at every breath of the tem- 
pest than it could recover by the vibration 
and frequent weighing of its wings, till the 
little creature was forced to sit down and 
pant, and stay till the storm was over; 
and then it made a prosperous flight, and 
did rise and sing, as though it had learned 
music and motion from an angel, as he 
passed through the air, about his ministry 
here below."* 

How many persons might have seen the 
lark rising from her lowly nest on her 
morning flight, beheld her struggles as she 
breasted the east wind, or heard her sweet 
notes as she soared aloft, whose habits of 
observation would have been too small, or 
whose perception of analogies too obtuse to 
gather from the feathered instructor any 
lesson which might illustrate the experi- 



* Jeremy Taylor's Sermons. Sermon on Prayer. 



84 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



ence or the conflicts of the Christian pil- 
grim on his journey to the skies. 

Thus, too, a hundred persons might see 
the owl, taking a stealthy flight " athwart 
the noon," without gathering any lesson 
of instruction, or perceiving in the mid- 
day sail of the bird of night, any significant 
illustration or analogy ; but a mind like 
that of Coleridge, perceives in it an em- 
blem of atheism, " willingly ignorant" and 
wilfully blind ; and clothes his perception 
in the drapery of grand and beautiful po- 
etry : 

Forth from his dark and murky hiding-place, 
(Portentous sight) — the owlet Atheism, 
Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon, 
Drops his blue-fringed lids, and holds them close, 
And hooting at the glorious Sim in Heaven, 
Cries out — 'Where is it?'' 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 85 



Thus may one person witness or read 
the singular fact, that the ostrich, when 
closely pressed by the hunter, will thrust 
his head into the cleft of a rock, or the 
hollow of a tree, foolishly imagining that 
because he can no longer see his pursuer, 
the hunter can no longer see him ; and 
the curiosity of that person may be awa- 
kened and gratified, but he shall gain no 
second idea ; — while another person whose 
mind has been trained to perceive analo- 
gies, and who is watching to pluck the 
flowers of illustration from every field, shall 
at once perceive in the silly bird, a stri- 
king analogy of " the fool who says in his 
heart — No God!" wilfully blinds his eyes 
against the evidence of a coming retribu- 
tion, and then vainly dreams of safety, till 
avenging justice overtakes him, and he 
finds, when it is too late, that " it is a 
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God." 

8 



86 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



An idea of the variety and extent of the 
fields in which this power of illustration 
may range at will, and of the almost infi- 
nite diversity of fruits and flowers which 
it may cull therefrom, may be formed by 
a glance at that single field of illustration, 
from which the last three examples are 
drawn — the nature and habits of the ani- 
mal creation. How frequently do the in- 
spired writers draw their tribute of illus- 
tration from this fertile source. The " ea- 
gle stirring up her nest," or "fluttering 
over her young," or " bearing them on her 
wings;" — the lion "greedy of his prey," 
or " lying in wait secretly," or " walking 
about, roaring, seeking whom he may de- 
vour ;" — the bear "robbed of her whelps;" 
the wolf "catching and scattering the 
sheep ;" the " ox which knoweth his owner, 
and the ass, his master's crib ;" the ant, 
which " provideth her meat in the summer, 
and gathereth her food in the harvest ;" 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 87 



the bird, in whose sight " the net is spread 
in vain;" the fowls of the air, which "sow 
not, neither do they reap the " hen gath- 
ering her chickens under her wings" — 
these, and a vast variety of similar illus- 
trations, are employed by the sacred wri- 
ters, or by our blessed Lord himself, to 
add force, and beauty, and point, to their 
instructions, expostulations, arguments, and 
entreaties. 

We may form a conception of the almost 
inexhaustible supply of illustrations to be 
found in the truths of natural history, from 
a curious old work, which has lately been 
reprinted in London, entitled, " Spiritual 
Honey from Natural Hives, or Meditations 
and Observations on the Natural History and 
Habits of Bees, by Samuel Purchas, A. M., 
London, A. D. 1657." This amusing yet 
instructive book, though partaking of the 
quaintness and singularity of the age of 



88 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION , 



Cromwell, both in its title and style, yet 
contains much that is valuable, interesting 
and appropriate, and some of its compari- 
sons are rich with truth and beauty. It 
will always be found, however, (and I would 
throw out this remark as a caution to those 
whom I address,) that when a fertile ima- 
gination undertakes to explore and exhaust 
any single source of illustration, some of 
his comparisons will be far-fetched and 
whimsical. This defect may be seen, in 
some degree, amidst all the piety and fer- 
vor, even of " Flavel's Husbandry Spiritu- 
alized," and still more, in that singular 
production of John Bunyan, so vastly be- 
low the fame of the great allegorist, " Solo- 
mon's Temple Spiritualized." 

The " Spiritual Honey from Natural 
Hives," contains no less than 25$ illustra- 
tions of different passages of Scripture, all 
drawn from the nature and habits of a 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 89 



single species of the insect tribe, and it 
would be singular indeed, if some of them 
were not extravagant or whimsical. I refer 
not to the volume, however, as a model 
for imitation, but simply as an evidence of 
the vast diversity of illustrations that may 
be gathered from a single source. Yet it 
is not saying too much to assert, that out 
of the 258 illustrations, more than one- 
half are pithy, valuable, and instructive. 
Three or four drops of this " spiritual 
honey," may serve as a specimen of the 
hive. Take the following — " Mercy comes 
naturally from God, like honey from the 
bee, but justice, like the sting, only when 
she is provoked." — " If nature teach bees, 
not only to gather honey out of sweet 
flowers, but out of bitter, shall not grace 
teach us to draw, even out of the bitterest 
condition, something to better our souls?" 
" Many hate not sin, nor fly from it, be- 
cause it is sin ; but as children do bees ; — 
8* 



90 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



not because they are bees, but because 
they have a sting. So do these persons 
flee from sin, not because it is sinful, but 
because it is hurtful" 

The only two other instances which I 
shall cite, are commended to the particular 
attention of all students of the sacred 
Scriptures, for the importance of the les- 
sons they inculcate. 

"If you do but take and pierce God's 
word," says our author, " and do but stay 
upon it, as the bee doth on the flower, 
and will not off, till you have got some- 
thing out of it ; if you still be digging in 
this mine, this will make you rich in know- 
ledge ; and if you be rich in knowledge, 
it will make you rich in grace." The last 
I shall quote is the following : — " Some 
use flowers only for the beauty or the 
smell ; the physicians, for health ; the bees, 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 91 



for honey ; so do wise and prudent persons 
apply their studies for the enriching and 
feeding their minds." And so, my young 
brethren in the ministry, permit me to add, 
will the wise and skillful minister apply 
his instructions — whether consisting of the 
statement of truth, or of argument to prove 
it, or illustration to elucidate it, or entreaty 
to enforce it — not to gratify the fastidious 
and perverted taste of those who look with 
contempt or disdain, even upon truth, un- 
less enshrined in a garland of flowers — 
not to adapt it to the prejudices of those 
who have " itching ears," and who " can- 
not endure sound doctrine;" — but with the 
single object of " enriching and feeding 
the minds," and saving the souls of his 
hearers. Nor can I better explain, than 
by the concise and forcible compaiisons I 
have last quoted, my own view of the pur- 
pose for which the kind of illustration I 
commend should be employed — not merely 



92 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



for beauty but utility ; not as flowers of 
rhetoric, but as aids to thought ; not sim- 
ply that they may tickle the ear, or gratify 
the taste, but that they may add clearness, 
or force, or point to important practical 
truths. 

If we were to turn to the other fields 
of illustration explored by the sacred wri- 
ters, besides that which has been specified, 
we should find in them all, a copiousness 
and variety almost equally rich. In the 
Bible, we find all nature and all history 
laid under tribute to furnish illustrations 
of the truth. The sun, the moon, and the 
stars; — the ocean, "the troubled sea when 
it cannot rest," and "the waters casting 
up mire and dirt;" — the winds, the rivers, 
and the still waters ; — the rocks, the hills, 
the mountains, and the valleys; — the "trees 
planted by the rivers of water;" — the oaks 
of Bashan, and the cedars of Lebanon ; — 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 93 



the vine, the olive, the pomegranate, the 
rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valley ; 
— the mustard plant, the wheat and the 
tares ; — ■ the process of vegetation, the de- 
composition or " death"* of the grain of 
wheat ; — the blade, the ear, and the full 
corn in the ear; — the occupations of men, 
the husbandman " waiting for the precious 
fruits of the earth," the sower " going forth 
to sow," the shepherd tending his flock, 
or the refiner purifying his silver and his 
gold i — buildings, corner-stones, foundation- 
stones, precious stones, and jewels. The 
common events of life ; — the discovery of 
a pearl in a field, the finding of a lost 
coin or a stray sheep, the casting of a net 
into the sea, the return of a spendthrift 
son, the compassion of a benevolent trav- 
eller, and the ceremonies of a marriage 



* 1 Cor., xv., 36, 37. 



! 



94 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



feast. The events of history, the charac- 
ters of good men or bad ; the virtues they 
exercised or the vices they exhibited, the 
influence they exerted, and the rewards or 
the punishments that resulted from their 
conduct. All these, besides a multitude of 
objects and events, which time would fail 
us to enumerate, formed the materiel of 
the rich and almost exhaustless fund of 
illustration, found in the inspired records. 

The illustrations of the Bible are, of 
course, to be quoted, and incorporated in 
all our discourses upon the great truths of 
the Gospel, and no sermon can be consid- 
ered as complete, unless its instructions 
are illustrated, and its positions are con- 
firmed by the authoritative declarations of 
inspiration. Yet they are to serve, not 
merely as mines from which analogies may 
be obtained, but as models by which analo- 
gies may be constructed. All the sources 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 95 



of illustration explored by the sacred wri- 
ters, may legitimately be laid under tribute 
by the preacher of the nineteenth century. 
More than this; — the great field of illus- 
tration which lies open to the preacher of 
the present age, is even more extensive 
than in the time when " holy men of old 
spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost," — because augmented, at least, by 
the history of the church and of the world 
for the last eighteen centuries, by the ad- 
vance in science and art, and by the start- 
ling and astonishing discoveries of modern 
times. To give but a single instance, even 
the last great discovery of this wonderful 
age has already been laid under tribute 
to the power of illustration ; and we have 
been told that the almost inconceivable ra- 
pidity, with which the electric wires carry 
their messages, from one extremity of our 
country to the other, is an emblem — 
though still an inadequate one — of the 



96 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



speed with which messages may be con- 
veyed from the heart of the trembling 
penitent, or from the couch of the suffer- 
ing saint, to the ear of Him who has said, 
" Call upon me in the day of trouble." 
Yes ! precious and consoling thought to the 
sons and daughters of affliction ! prayer 
flies to its gaol quicker than a message 
even by the lightning telegraph ! 

Now, if the sources of illustration are 
thus varied, and thus prolific, how impor- 
tant to him who would appropriate their 
treasures, are these five things that I have 
already named as necessary to all who 
would possess in a high degree the power 
of illustration, viz. — habits of observation, 
extensive and varied reading, a retentive 
and cultivated memory, a thorough acquaint- 
ance with the truths to be illustrated, and 
a readiness in perceiving analogies. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 97 



A few brief directions will conclude the 
present discourse. Would you acquire, and 
retain in a high degree, the power of illus- 
tration, my young brethren ? Then (1.) 
cultivate and give free scope to your habits 
of observation, and your opportunities of 
inquiry and research. Keep your eyes and 
your ears constantly open. Study men and 
things as you will meet them in the com- 
mon walks of life. Instead of isolating 
yourselves from the masses, as is too fre- 
quently done by men of study and litera- 
ture, mingle freely with the people, and 
while you aim to do them good by a holy 
example, never be ashamed to ask and re- 
ceive information, from any who are able 
to give it. However humble their occupa- 
tion, and however limited their literary at- 
tainments, compared with your own, you 
will often discover a vein of good common 
sense and a fund of valuable information 
on common things, possessed by the farmer, 
9 



98 



POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



the mechanic, or the laborer, which can- 
not be acquired in the halls of learning 
or of science, and of which you will find 
it much to your advantage to avail your- 
self. 



(2.) Give attendance to reading. Culti- 
vate a familiar acquaintance, next to the 
sacred Scriptures, with the history of the 
church in every age, and the lives of the 
holy men who have been its defenders or 
its ornaments. Study the secular history, 
too, of every age and of every nation, and 
the biography of the men who have be- 
come famous, either in ancient or modern 
times, for their power, their learning, their 
genius, or their eloquence. Explore, if 
possible, every field from which sources of 
illustration can be drawn. Let the starry 
heavens above you, and the verdant earth 
beneath you, with its trees and plants and 
flowers, the air with its winged inhabitants, 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 99 



the sea with its finny tribes, the land with 
its beasts and creeping things, all be the 
subjects of reading, observation, and study, 
and all contribute their share to the illus- 
tration of the momentous themes of the 
pulpit. 

(3.) Cultivate your power of perceiving 
analogies. Acquire the habit of pulpit-ap- 
propriation, throughout the whole circle of 
your reading, observation, and study. — 
Whether you are reading history, or biog- 
raphy, or travels ; science, or eloquence or 
poetry, or any other department of litera- 
ture, — be constantly on the watch for an- 
alogies to illustrate the themes of the pulpit. 
To a mind ever thus on the watch for 
illustrations of truth or of duty, no intel- 
lectual pursuit will be barren of instruction 
or profit. All his mental acquisitions will 
be made to pay their tribute to the pulpit ; 
and even the common occurrences of every 



100 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



day life, and the common journals of every 
day news,* will contribute their quota to 
enrich that treasury of illustration laid up 



* As an example of the kind of facts to be 
gleaned from this source for the purpose of illus- 
tration, take the following from a recent Boston 
paper : — " Appalling Collision at Sea. — The 
ship Shanunga, at this port, from Liverpool, reports 
that on Monday morning, the 9th of August, the 
weather being foggy, she came in contact with the 
Swedish bark Iduna, from Hamburg, with two hun- 
dred and six persons on board. The Iduna sunk 
in about half an hour. Immediately after the col- 
lision, the Shanunga's boats were put out, and with 
one boat from the bark, picked up thirty-four per- 
sons only. One hundred and seventy-two persons, in- 
cluding the master, Capt. Moberg, were lost ! — 
Capt. Patten, of the Shanunga, is wholly incapa- 
citated, from the depth of his feelings, from enter- 
ing into any details at present, relative to this 
melancholy event. He says that no statement could 
exaggerate the horrors of that awful moment. — 
All the survivors that were saved were picked up 
from the surface of the water. One cause why 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 101 



in the storehouse of his memory, to be 
used as occasion may require ; and seldom 
will a single day be allowed to pass with- 
out adding to the stock on hand. 



so few were thus saved, was, that almost all of 
them had. when the cry went round that she was 
sinking, seized their belts of gold and silver, and tied 
them around their waists : thus those who attempted 
to save their gold lost both life and gold, being 
unable to sustain themselves until the boats could 
reach them." — What a striking illustration is fur- 
nished by the above melancholy incident of the de- 
structive influence of an all-engrossing desire for 
wealth ! As these poor wretches sunk the sooner, and 
made the death of the body the more certain, by 
fastening their gold about them, so there are many 
who seem willing to barter, even their souls, for gold. 
Alas ! how earnestly and how anxiously do they 
toil and strive after that, which when obtained, 
instead of ministering to their soul's good, only 
serves as a dead weight to sink them the sooner 
and the deeper to perdition ! " What shall it profit 
a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his 
own soul ?" 

9* 



102 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



(4.) Finally, I would say, above all, 
cultivate a habit of spiritual-mindedness, 
and that will turn everything into pulpit- 
gold. Set your affections upon things 
above. Think much of Christ and of 
Heaven. Breathe the atmosphere of Geth- 
semane and of Calvary, and let the eye of 
faith and of love be habitually fixed on 
that Saviour who there agonized and died. 
To borrow the words of another, I would 
say, " Baptize your souls in Baxter's Saints' 
Rest" — to which I would add — and in 
such works as " Flavel's Fountain of Life," 
or " Owen's Spiritual-mindedness," or his 
" Person and Glory of Christ," or " Am- 
brose's Looking to Jesus." 

This habit of meditating upon the tender 
and subduing themes connected with the 
work of redeeming grace and love, will 
prepare the mind to pluck the flowers of 
spiritual instruction and delight from every 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 103 



field, and will consequently tend pre-emi- 
nently to qualify that minister or that 
teacher, who thus lives " quite on the verge 
of heaven," to be a successful spiritual in- 
structor to others. 

Let it be your aim, therefore, my young 
brethren, so to live and so to labor, as 
you would if Christ himself, in a form 
which your bodily eyes might see, were 
standing by your side, and fixing on you 
his eyes of tenderness and love, as he did 
upon that disciple whom he loved, when 
leaning on his breast at supper, or when 
he spoke to him from his cross of agony ; 
or as he did upon Peter who denied 
him, when that look of mingled tenderness, 
pity, and reproach, caused the too confi- 
dent, but now broken-hearted disciple, to 
" go out and to weep bitterly." 

And is it not, in reality, true, that Jesus 



104 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



still lives? that "He liveth and was dead, 
and is alive for evermore ?"* Is it not lite- 
rally true, ye ministers of Christ, that the 
eye of that Master whom you serve, is 
every moment resting its piercing glance 
upon you, just as really and just as truly 
as though your bodily eyes could behold 
him ? And is it not for your special en- 
couragement that he assures you of the 
fact, when he says — " Lo I am with you 
always, even unto the end of the world ?"f 

It is related of a certain chief of the 
MacGregors, a Highland clan, who had 

! warmly espoused the cause of the exiled 
Stuarts, that when advancing under the 

! banners of Charles Edward, against the 
English troops at the battle of Preston 
Pans, in 1715, he was struck to the ground 
by two balls from the enemy. The Mac- 



* Revelation, i. 18. 



t Matthew, xxviii. 20. 



AN ELEMENT OF PULPIT SUCCESS. 105 



Gregor cian seeing their loved chieftain 
fall, began to waver, when the wounded 
captain instantly raised himself upon his 
elbow, and as the blood streamed from his 
wounds, exclaimed aloud — "I am not dead, 
my children ! I am looking at you, to see 
if you do your duty !"* Thus, my young 
brethren, who are just buckling on the ar- 
mor of the gospel ministry ; — as you go 
forth to battle with the hosts of darkness, 
if ever your hearts should falter or your 
faith give way, if ever your spiritual adver- 
saries should seem to gain a temporary 
advantage, remember that the Master 
whom you serve, and who is at once your 
Saviour and your captain — the great " cap- 
tain of your salvation, "f is not dead, but 



* Histoire de Charles Edward, dernier Prince de 
la maison de Stuart, &c. Par Amedee Pichot. 
Paris, 1846. N. A. Review for January, 1847. 

t Hebrews, ii. 10. 



106 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION, 



alive, and that from his throne on high He 
is looking at you, to see if you do your 
duty 

May God enable you, by his grace, so 
to war a good warfare, that when you are 
called to receive your discharge, be it early 
or late, each one of you may be enabled 
to say, with the great Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, " I am now ready to be offered, and 
the time of my departure is at hand. I 
have fought a good fight, I have finished 
my course, I have kept the faith. Hence- 
forth, there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the right- 
eous judge, shall give unto me at that 
day V 9 




§ VALUABLE 

RELIGIOUS BOOKS, 

FOR THE 

FIRESIDE AND SABBATH SCHOOL. 




MISS CHUBBUCK'S, (now Mrs. Judson) 

PRACTICAL STORIES. 

REVISED EDITIONS. 

THE GREAT SECRET, 

Or How to be Happy. 

FANNY ELMORE, 

A SECOND PART TO THE GREAT SECRET. 

CHARLES LINN, 

Or How to Observe the Golden Rule. 

ALLEN LUCAS, 

The Self made Man. 



A SCRIPTURAL DEFENCE 



OF THE 

DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY; 

OR, 

A CHECK TO MODERN ARIANISM, 

As taught by Unitarians, Campbelhtes, Hicksites, New 
Lights, Universalists, and Mormons; and e**»ecially by 
a sect celling themselves Christians. 

BY ItEV. H. MA.TTISON* 



The author has done a good service in attajking 
that grand feature of almost all modern heresies — the 
denial of the Godhead of the Son and Holy Spirit. 
His treatise seems to be peculiarly adapted to gen- 
eral circulation, and Arianism is shown to be any- 
thing but the truth as revealed from on high. — The 
Presbyterian. 

This small volume is wisely intended to meet a 
practical want, by defending the doctrine of the 
Trinity — not so much against scholastic speculations 
as against the more popular forms of error. — New- 
York Recorder. 

An able little volume in defence of the doctrine 
of the Trinity The line of argument is vig- 

orously and closely traced, and in a style adapted to 
popular readers. — Zion's Herald Sf Wesleyan Jour. 

This is a timely production — serving to quicken at* 
tention to what must ever be a central truth of Chris- 
tianity. — Olive Branch. 

An able defence of the doctrine of the Trinity. — 
The author has done good service to the cause of 
truth in the volume before us. — North. Chr. Adv. 

The author has presented a fair view of the Scrip- 
tural doctrine on this subject. He has also exposed 
the fallacy of the objections brought against the doc- 
trine of the Divinity of Christ. — Christ. Chronicle. 

We take rank with Trinitarians, and regard Mr 
Mattison as having done good justice to'the subject 
He is a close reasoner, and possesses a mind well 
adapted to polemic investigation. — True Wesleyan. 



FOR BIBLE CLASSES. 



ELEMENTS OF THEOLOGY; 

OR, THE LEADING TOPICS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 
PLAINLY AND SCRIPTURALLY SET FORTH; WITH 
THE PRINCIPAL EVIDENCES OF DIVINE REVELA- 
TION CONCISELY STATED. 

WITH QUESTIONS, 

FOR THE USE OF BIBLE CLASSES, SEMINARIES OF LEARNING 
AND FAMILIES. 

By DANIEL HASOALL, A. M. 

The plan of the work is thus stated by the author :— 

1. After a concise proof of the existence of God from creation, to se* 
forth the evidences of a Divine Revelation contained in the Scriptures 
of the Old and New Testaments. 

2. The attributes of God, as delineated in the revelations which he 
has made of himself. 

3. The primitive and present character of man. 

4. The recovery of lost men. 

5. The agency of creatures connected with this recovery. 
. 6. What befalls man at and after death. 

These subjects are treated of in a series of brief essays, with ques 
tions at the close of each essay or chapter. The whole is comprised 
in an 18mo of 260 pages. The style of the author is terse and sugges 
tive. He just touches upon the leading thoughts in every subject 
treated of— puts the reader upon the right train of thought— and then 
leaves it for another. 

The book is very readable, and interesting to the solitary inquirer 
into the " elements" of religious truth ; but judging from the ques- 
tions, the author designed it mainly as a text-book for instruction. 
Pastors will find it a suitable book to put into the hands of any in 
their charge, who may wish to form a class for the systematic study 
of the groundwork of our religion ; and Preceptors of Academies, who 
think that theological science should have a place among othei 
sciences in the education of youth, will find this book better adapted 
to their wants than anything which has been before published. 

" The author is a man of experience, soundness, piety, and learning 
in the topics of which the present work treats. His successful aim 
has been to give instruction in the most important branch of know- 
ledge—' the knowledge of G©d and of ourselves.' " 

[Christian Reflector* 

" Its use among the young will, with the divine blessing, contribute 
to a sounder condition of our churches. Topics relating to church 
order are omitted, and it may therefore be jmpropriately circulated 
among all evangelical denominations."— N. Y. Recorder. 



LEWIS COLBY & COMPANY, 

122 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK, 

PUBLISH A GREAT VARIETY OF 

CHOICE AND VALUABLE 

SABBATH SCHOOL BOOKS, 

Uniformly botmd, in neat half-roan, and generally illustrated 
with fine wood Engravings. 

NEW BOOKS OF APPROVED CHARACTER, 

ARE CONTINUALLY BEING ISSUED. 

3B ® © 3S i p 2La 2L 31 3H © 5 

And dealers in S. S. Books, may be supplied upon advan- 
tageous terms. Such as reside at a distance and have not 
means of making selections, may depend upon great care be- 
ing taken, and upon receiving new and perfect copies. 

Wishing to replenish their libraries, may rely upon having 
their orders carefully attended to. Orders from the country 
should be accompanied by a list of such books as are already 
on hand, together with the amount to be expended. 

8Cf»Catalogues furnished gratis upon application. 



THE SABBATH SCHOOL MINSTREL, 

DESIGNED EOR SABBATH SCHOOLS, FAMILIES AND 
SOCIAL MEETINGS. 

This collection of music and hymns has been made with 
especial reference to the wants of the Sabbath School. 
The style of the music is simple and devotional ; and while it 
will gratify those somewhat advanced in the science, it may 
be learned with facility by even the youngest scholar. The 
object has been to introduce as large a number of appropriate 
hymns as possible, varying in length and in measure ; and 
all adapted to the exercises of the Sabbath School, its Anni- 
versaries, Celebrations, &c. 



LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. 



THE JUDSON OFFERING. 

Intended aa a token of Christian Sympathy with tho 
Living, and a Memento of Christian 
Affection for the Dead. 



BY REV. JOHN DOWLING, A. M„ 
Author of " History of Romanism," &c 



[Fifth Thousand,] 



fi^p* This edition contains several additional articles, in 
prose and verse, relative to the departure of Mr. and 
Mrs. Judson for Burmah. 



Notices of tje former Coitions. 

It is done up in fancy style, something after the fash- 
ion of the annuals; and a handsome engraving, repre 
senting " The Departure," faces the title. It is neat and 
spirited, and we doubt not, will meet, as it deserves, an 
extensive circulation. The fervent missionary spirit that 
runs through its pages, renders it a valuable work for 
the young ; and we hope it will be selected by thou- 
sands as a holiday present, instead of the expensive, but 
less useful annuals, with which the shelves of the book- 
stores are plentifully supplied. — Christian Secretary, 



Altogether, it will form an acceptable popular offering, 
and obtain a wide circulation. Considering the taste and 
perfection of the mechanical execution, the price is low. 
— New-York Recorder. 

x 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. , 



1* 



^ LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. * 

The volume before us is a collection of the effusions, 
in poetry and prose, which have been called forth by the 
arrival and presence of Dr. Judson in this country ; to- 
gether with several pieces written expressly for this 
work, and " Sketches of Missionary Life," by its editor, 
comprising a brief, connected history of the leading 
events in the missionary life of Judson. The editor, 
with whose powers and talents as a writer, the readers 
of the Watchman have, for sometime, been well ac- 
quainted, has performed a task which cannot fail to be 
highly acceptable to the Christian public, and must have 
been very grateful to his own feelings. His " sketches" 
are very graphic and touching, and the whole arrange- 
ment of the volume displays sound sense, good taste, 
literary skill, and a deep interest in his theme. — Chris- 
tian Watchman. 

We are happy to commend this volume, both for the : 
beauty of its execution, and for the valuable and inter- 
esting matter it contains.- Christian parents, or others, 
who may wish to present a token of affection, will find a 
suitable one in this " Offering." — New-England Puritan. 

The design of this work is to render the tribute, which 
every Christian heart must feel, to the pious labors and 
self-denial of Dr. Judson, who has been so long and 
successfully engaged in missionary labors in Burmah. 
It consists of various pieces of poetry and prose, chiefly 
by the editor, of no little merit, and bearing upon the 
missionary enterprise. It is very neatly printed. — New- 
York Evangelist. 

^ It is composed of missionary pieces, from the most 
pious and gifted poetic and prose writers. The whole 
breathes a right spirit ; and it is a happy thing that this 
occasion has been seized upon to give popularity and 
currency to reading of so pure and benevolent a charac- 
ter. — Boston Recorder. 



ft 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW- YORK. 



LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. * 

It comprises various short articles, in prose and verse, 
including the addresses to Judson, at the meeting of the 
Triennial Convention, by Dr. Wayland, and at the mass 
meeting in Richmond, by Elder Jeter. Some of the 
best articles are from the pen of the editor, entitled, 
" Sketches of Missionary Life." We have no doubt 
that many thousands will be sold. It is well calculated 
to be a popular work. — Rel. Herald, Richmond, Va. 

A beautiful volume, of near 300 pages, consisting of 
deeply interesting missionary sketches, both in prose 
and poetry, from some of the ablest pens ; valuable for 
the biographical and historical information it contains, as 
well as for the influence it will exert in favor of the 
great enterprise. — Baptist Register, Utica. 

A tribute justly due to living and departed worth — 
does honor to the head and heart of the estimable com- 
piler — well-adapted, not only to awaken and increase 
the spirit of missions, but to have a salutary impression 
upon the minds of all who peruse it. — Advocate of 
Moral Reform. 

" « 

It is the frame work of the History of the Burman 
Mission, interlaced and entwined with the blossoms and 
fragrance of some of the choicest effusions of poetry. 
The style of execution is elegant. Every family should 
have this book. — Baptist Record, Philadelphia. 

A handsome, and deeply interesting publication, 
which we desire to see introduced to the notice of our 
readers, in something more than merely a formal decla- 
ration. The execution is worthy of the design ; and its 
wide circulation will accomplish much more than the 
commemoration of Judson's visit ; it will tend to culti- 
vate a Judson's spirit in the rising generation. We hope 
to see it in many of the happy homes of Michigan. It 
will always make an elegant and acceptable gift.— 
Michigan Herald, Detroit. 



122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 



2 



LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. 



WORKS or 
WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, D. D. 



THE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLE 

IN OUR LITERATURE 

18 mo. cloth, 37£ cents, 

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, 
THE HOME AND HOPE OP THE FREE. 

127?i(7. pamphlet, 12£ cents. 

GOD'S PRESENCE IN HIS SANCTUARY. 

8vo. pamphlet, 64 pages, price 25 cents. 

Like the other productions of its eloquent author, it abounds 
in splendid imagery and striking original views, set forth in 
language glowing and expressive. — Christian Reflector. 

A GOOD MINISTER 

OF 

JESUS CHRIST. 

12mo. pamphlet, 12£ cents. 

122 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 

H : H 



lewis colby's publications. 



'ULLER AND WAYL AND ON SLAVERY 



DOMESTIC SLAVERY 

CONSIDERED AS A SCRIPTURAL INSTITUTION ; 
la a Correspondence between the 

REV. RICHARD FULLER, D. D., 

OP BEAUFORT, S. C, 

AND THE 

PEV. FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. f 

OF PROVIDENCE, R. I, 



This is a standard text-book upon the subject. 
Let no one say, I have read enough on this sublet. It 
fills a place never before occupied — a calm, candid, and 
very able discussion of the subject in a Christian-like 
manner. No one fehould be without it, as it will long be 
a book of reference, 

" This is the best specimen of controversial writing on 
slavery, or any other subject, we have ever read. The 
parties engaged in it are men of high distinction, and pre- 
eminently qualified for the task ; and the kind and Chris- 
tian spirit that pervades the entire work, is a beautiful 
commentary on the power of the gospel. This discus- 
sion is complete, and whoever reads it need read nothing 
more, to enable him to form a correct view of the subject 
in question." — Lutheran Observer, 

It is handsomely executed, and put at a low price. 50 
cents — 254 pages, 18mo. 

122 NASSAU-ST , NEW-YORK. 



LEWIS COLBY & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 



THE 

PASTORS' HANDBOOK, 

COMPRISING 

SELECTIONS OF SCRIPTURE, 

ARRANGED FOR VARIOUS OCCASIONS OF OFFICIAL DUTY, 
SELECT FORMULAS FOR THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY, ETC. { 
AND 

RULES OF BUSINESS 

For Churches, Ecclesiastical and other Deliberative Assemblies. 



BY REV. W. Y7. EVERTS, 

PASTOR OF LAIGHT STREET CHURCH, NEW-YOJj:. 



Kecommendations 

There are strong and just feelings against formulas of 
worship ; but the design of this work is simply to bring 
together passages of the Bible on one subject, in order to 
save the minister the trouble of collecting them, at the 
time, for himself. In addition to the mere convenience 
of such a work, it will contribute . not a little to unfold the 
beauties and harmonies of the sacred writings. 

E. W. Dickinson. 



The language in which inspired men breathed their 
devotions to Heaven, and in which the Holy Spirit has 
clothed his own thoughts, is most appropriate to the ends 
of worship, and no doubt, most acceptable to the Father 
of our Spirits. 

A judicious arrangement and classification of Scripture 
passages, therefore, to be used on public occasions, would 
be found eminently serviceable to all the Pastors of our 
country. It would relieve an embarrassment, which 
they all, in common with the subscriber, have probably 
felt, especially on sudden emergencies. I would there- 
fore, earnestly recommend the work of Mr. Everts to the 
attention of the Pastors, and of the public generally. 

Pharcellus Church. 



122 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK. 



* LEWIS COLBY & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. 

I am confident it will be of great service to ministers' 
of the Gospel. J. S. Backus. 

Should the work which you have so well commenced, 
be faithfully executed in all parts, I could most cordially 
recommend its publication. As a help to pastors, es- 
pecially on extraordinary occasions, it would possess 
great value. Baron Stow. 

I regard the plan as very judicious, and the selections 
as well made and highly appropriate. There can be no 
doubt that such a work, properly executed, would be 
very convenient and acceptable to the ministry generally, 
and tend much to increase the facility, pertinence, and 
impressiveness of their official duties. Gorge B. Ide. 

I concur in opinion with the Rev. Mr. Ide. 

Thomas H. Skinner, 
W. Patton. 



We heartily concur in the above recommendations. 

Elisha Tucker, 
James L. Hodge, 
David Bellamy, 
Henry Davis, 
E. E. L. T ylor, 

■ E. Lathrop. 

Such a work I have no doubt will be received with 
great satisfaction by every one in the sacred profession, 
who values appropriateness in public religious services. 

I cannot help thinking that the time has come when 
such a book will be received with great interest. It 
brings no one to any prescribed course, and yet suggests 
services of a character that will almost compel the greater 
proportion of those clergymen into whose hands it may 
fall, to avail themselves of its aid. Joel Parker, 

I heartily concur in the above recommendations of the 
Rev. Dr. Parker. N. Bangs. 



122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 



LEWIS COLBY & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 



THE 

BIBLE MANUAL. 



BY REV: W. "W. EVERTS, 

PASTOR OF LAIQHT STREET CHUfiCH, NEW-YOBK. 



This is an enlargement of the plan of the 11 Pastor's Hand- 
book," and contains selections of Scripture, arranged for 
nearly all special occasions of religious worship, as the Or- 
dinance of Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Church meetings, 
Ordination and Dedication services, Bible, Missionary, 
and Sunday School meetings, Thanksgiving, and Fast 
days, &c. &c. It embraces also a large variety of 
selections for ordinary occasions of private and public 
worship, unfolding the leading doctrines and duties of 
Revelation. 

The Appendix consists of a copious classification of 
Scripture text, upon the various doctrines of Scripture, 
originally published under the name of the " Scripture 
Text Book," by the Irish Religious Tract Society. It 
was received with such favor that more than thirty 
thousand copies have already been sold, and of the last 
edition three thousand copies were sold in one month. 

Thus comprehensive in its plan, and various in its 
matter, the " Selections" is a suitable companion for the 
Bible and Hymn book, in the family circle, and in the 
place of worship ; a useful guide to private devotion, and 
a convenient directory for the pulpit. 

I have examined, at much length, the Manuscript of 
the " Scripture Selections," prepared by the Rev. W. W. » 
Everts of this city. They seem well chosen and arranged, 
and promise to afford, especially to the Christian pastor, 
when suddenly summoned to funeral and other services, 
very efficient aid ; whilst to the private Christian they 
must be of interest, as guiding his studies in the Scrip- 
tures, and as illustrations of the harmony and fulness of > 
God's word on the several topics discussed. 

William R. Williams. [ 

* 122 NASSAU- STREET, NEW-YORK. J 



P LEWIS COLBY & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. ^ 

I regard the " Scripture Selections," prepared by my ex- 
cellent friend and brother, the Rev. W. W. Everts, as a 
work of much practical utility in the discharge of pastoral 
duties. I have examined the plan and some of the proof- 
sheets with considerable minuteness, and consider both 
the plan and the selections as eminently judicious. The 
need of such appropriate and copious selections of holy 
writ, is often felt by the minister of the gospel in the per- 
formances of the multifarious duties of the pastoral office. 
At funerals, I have long been in the habit of carrying into 
practice the plan so fully developed in this useful work. 
I have opened the Bible, as though I were reading, and 
by the aid of a somewhat retentive memory, have repeated 
from different parts of the Bible, some twenty or thirty 
texts appropriate to the circumstances and the occasion. 
In future, I shall relieve my memory, and I have no doubt 
increase the interest of these and other occasions, by avail- 
ing myself of the excellent compilation of Mr ; Everts. 

— John Dowling. 

After examining your plan and a portion of your work, 
I cheerfully express the belief that you will do good, by 
furnishing the Church with " the Scripture Selections." 

George Potts. 

I am happy to say that I see reason to believe that 
your volume will meet a want which has been felt by 
almost every minister, who has been in the habit of 
making the reading of the Scriptures a part of his public 
exercise. R. W. Cushman. 

Having considered the object and plan of the " Selec- 
tions of Scripture, arranged for various occasions of 
religious service," and satisfied of its desirableness and 
utility, I cordially concur in the above recommendation. 

Thomas DeWitt. 

I am satisfied that it will answer most valuable purposes 
as a manual for conducting religious services. 

George Peck. 

We heartily concur in the above recommendations. 
Elisha Tucker, I David Bellamy, IE. E. L. Taylor, 
James L. HodgeJ Henry Davis, |E. Lathrop. 

« 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. j* 



LEWIS COLBY'S PUBLICATIONS. 



FACTS FOR BOYS, 

SELECTED AND ABBANGPD 

BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D. 

Handsomely bound in cloth. 18mo 31 cents. 

Extra Gilt, .50 ■ 



FACTS FOR GIRLS. 

6Y THE SAME AUTHOR, 

And uniform with the above. 

These hie very entertaining and useful books for chil- 
dren — inculcating religious Truth by interesting Facts, 
Anecdotes, and Stories. It is just the kind of reading 
which children like. 



EVERY DAY DUTY: 

OR 

SKETCHES OF CHILDISH CHARACTER. 

The Author, in this book, in plain and simple language, 
enters into the sports and incidents of childhood, and 
would show to children that they are always happiest 
when doing right. Uniform with the above. 



n 



122 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 



LEw7s~C0LI^^ *t 

A PURE CHRISTIANITY 
THE WORLD'S ONLY HOPE. 

BY REV. R. W. CUSHMAN, 

FAB TO B 01 SHE BOWDOIN SQUABS CHURCH, BOSi'Vtf 

A Practical and Standard Work. 
Price, 31£ cents. 



SYNOPTICAL VIEW. 

True Religion the only Moral Conservative. 
Scripture View of Christianity. 
Means of Restoring Christianity to its Primitive 
Efficacy. 

Duty of the Christian in the Present State of Things. 



This work is an able vindication of Scriptural Christianity, both in 
reference to its spirit, and its organization and ordinances. 

41 There is in this work a forcible statement of 6ome prevalent ob- 
stacles to the progress of pure religion, which ought to be universally 

| studied. The author shows a sagacious and penetrating mind in his 
view of the subject, and a degree of boldness and outspoken honesty 
in setting it forth, quite worthy of a follower of Roger Williams* 
We commend it to all who love religious freedom, as worth study and 

j admiration." — New-York Evangelist. 

" It is severe against the errors of the age ; is written with great 
vigor of style, and spiciness of illustration, and cannot fail to awaken 
iuterest." — Baptist Advocate. 

\ "This little book is a desideratum, and ought to be read by all 
classes." — Baptist Record. 

L 122 NASSAU-ST., NEW-YORK. 



lewis colby's publications. 





THE LONDON APPRENTICE : 



" I should be glad if my notice of this little work — 1 The 
Happy Transformation' — should induce numbers of young 
men to purchase and read it." — Rev. J. A.James's "Young 
Man from Home. 11 

Nothing can be more suitaole for young men leaving 
home, to engage in business. The work is especially in- 
tended for the benefit of young persons, about to enter on, 
or already engaged in, the pursuit of business in cities and 
large towns. The narrative is also adapted for usefulness 
to persons of every age, and in the most varied circum- 
stances. It exhibits in striking colors the unsatisfactory 
nature, and the bitter consequences, even in this life, of 
what are falsely called " the pleasures" of yoattu Em- 
bellished with engravings. 18mo. 31 cen^ 




AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE | 



WITH A PREFACE. 




THE WAY FOR A CHILD TO BE SAVED. 



This entertaining book, which has already had a wide 
circulation, can hardly fail of being a means of good to 
every child that reads it. 18mo. 31 cents. 



122 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-YORK. 

VL 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Oct. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



